About one million people have returned to Syria following the overthrow in December of Bashar al-Assad, according to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR).
Some 4.5-6 million people fled the country during the conflict that ended the 54-year reign of the Assad dynasty. The fighting began in 2011.
Another 1.8 million who were displaced within Syria have returned to their areas of origin despite localised violence against minority Alawite and Druze communities.
Of the one million Syrians who settled in Germany in 2015 at the height of the conflict, some 4,000 have returned, according to German broadcaster Ard.
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UNHCR commissioner Filippo Grandi has asked the international community to offer support to returning Syrians.
“This is a rare opportunity to resolve one of the largest displacement crises in the world,” he said. “The international community, private sector and Syrians in the diaspora must come together and intensify their efforts to support recovery and ensure that the voluntary return of those displaced by conflict is sustainable and dignified and they are not forced to flee again.”
Since Assad was ousted by Sunni fundamentalist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), conditions have remained volatile with the economy in freefall.
Returnees face insecurity, wrecked homes, devastated infrastructure and a lack of jobs.
A security source in Damascus said violent incidents are being committed daily by extreme individuals and groups. Kidnapping is common in the countryside, and cars are stolen. Electricity is disconnected most of the time, while water supplies are frequently cut.
Food and fuel are expensive and the Syrian currency has sunk to a historic low.
Some 90 per cent of Syrians live below the poverty line, and extreme poverty affects 60 per cent, according to the World Bank.
The United States and its allies have stepped up humanitarian relief, lifted sanctions and encouraged investment, but Syria remains at risk due to the insecurity and continuing economic, social and political instability.
While some families have returned to damaged and destroyed homes in ravaged towns and villages, the majority have resettled in Damascus, the UNHCR said.
The city’s suburbs were devastated during the 2011-2019 conflict, but the capital escaped largely unscathed.
Most of the returning refugees have come from Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraqi Kurdistan. UN-registered Syrians in Turkey and Lebanon have been under strong pressure to repatriate.
Assad’s clampdown on peaceful protests during the 2011 Arab Spring displaced 13 million of Syria’s 23 million citizens, the majority of whom remained within the country.
The UN estimates that half a million Syrians were killed and 100,000 disappeared during the civil war.
