About 850,000 refugees from Syria have returned to their homeland since December 2024, when Bashar Assad left his position. This is reported by the Associated Press, citing a UN representative.
The UN Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees, Kelly Clements, expressed the opinion that about 1.7 million Syrians, forced to leave their homes over 14 years of conflict, are returning to Syria. In particular, if the trend continues, the number of returnees could reach 1 million in the coming weeks.
Clements emphasized that the number of people deciding to return is indeed high. Currently, the largest group of Syrian refugees resides in Lebanon, which is suffering from overload, as Lebanon ranks among the top in the world for the number of refugees per capita. Previously, local authorities gave illegal migrants until the end of August to leave the country.
About 190,000 people were forced to avoid violence in southern Syria, caused by clashes between government troops and representatives of the Druze community in June. It also became known that the key Damascus-Suweida highway, which was blocked for several weeks, is now reopened. This event is significant because the opening of the route will significantly increase humanitarian aid to the region.
At the end of November 2024, the armed opposition began active actions against the Syrian army, culminating in the entry of forces into Damascus on December 8. As a result, Bashar Assad left his post and the country, while Israeli military forces took positions in the southern buffer zone, which the Israeli government described as a temporary measure. Israeli aviation also struck weapon depots on Syrian territory.
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