Back to Syria: 1.5 million choose to return

Shafaq News/ On Friday, the United Nations announced that more than 1.5 million Syrian refugees and internally displaced persons have returned to their communities.

Edem Wosornu, Director of Operations and Advocacy at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), noted that relief efforts continue for 16.5 million in need, despite significant logistical and security challenges.

“We’re reaching around 2.4 million people each month through both in-country and cross-border channels,” she noted, adding that the recent easing of US and EU sanctions could support Syria’s recovery and long-term development.

UN data shows over one million internally displaced individuals have returned to their areas of origin, along with more than 500,000 refugees who re-entered Syria from neighboring countries.

Washington and Brussels recently lifted key economic sanctions imposed during Bashar al-Assad’s presidency, leading aid organizations to anticipate the arrival of new resources for stabilization and acceleration of early recovery programs.