212 Families Return to Home Villages from Northern Syria Camps
A new voluntary return convoy departed from Northern Syria today, Thursday, facilitating the return of 212 displaced families to their original villages and towns. The families are returning to provinces including Idlib, Hama, Homs, Aleppo, and Al-Hasakah. This initiative is part of ongoing government efforts to resolve the displacement file and ensure the return of residents to their home areas, in alignment with Presidential Decree No. 59 of 2026, which aims to achieve a “zero-tent” status across the country.
The organization of this convoy was the result of coordinated efforts between several entities, including the Idlib Governorate, the Directorate of Social Affairs and Labor, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Muzn Organization, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, and the Directorate of Emergency and Disaster Management. Officials emphasized that this process is supported by ongoing measures to provide essential services and facilitate the stability of the returning families within their communities.
Mohammad Bakir, Director of the Northern Department at the Directorate of Social Affairs and Labor in Idlib, stated that registration processes remain open for those wishing to return. He revealed that preparations are currently underway to dispatch four additional convoys during the coming week. Bakir noted that the total number of families who have returned to their home areas since the beginning of the liberation process has reached approximately 170,000, reflecting an increasing trend in voluntary returns as conditions in the target areas continue to improve.
Manaf Hammam, a coordinator for the camp management sector at the UNHCR in Aleppo and Idlib, highlighted that the commission’s role focuses on providing transportation and immediate relief and food assistance to the returning families. He confirmed that efforts are ongoing to connect these families with UNHCR offices in various provinces to ensure they have access to available services and programs, which contributes to establishing their stability and alleviating the hardships they have faced for years.
Many of the returning families expressed their relief at the move, noting their strong desire to resume their normal lives away from the difficult conditions of the camps. Abdul Karim Hassan Al-Aliwi, a returnee from the northern countryside of Hama, noted that he had spent many years in camps since 2013 amidst a severe lack of services. He emphasized that returning to his home in the village of Qastoun signifies the end of his long hardship. Other families who had spent between 11 and 14 years in displacement also expressed their happiness at returning to their homes in the countryside of Hama and Homs.
This convoy follows a previous departure last Sunday, which included 263 families who returned from camps in Idlib and Aleppo to their hometowns in the countryside of Idlib, Hama, Aleppo, and Damascus. The movement serves as an indicator of the ongoing and escalating rate of returns as part of national plans to end the suffering of displaced persons in the camps.
Source: Syria Focus Arabic
