UNITED NATIONS, Nov 12 (IPS) – Eleven months after the fall of the Assad regime, Syria continues to suffer serious instability as the country undergoes a turbulent political transition. The number of displaced people has soared and humanitarian organizations are struggling to support large numbers of refugees returning home. In recent weeks, the United Nations (UN) has documented numerous cases of enforced disappearances and kidnappings, calling for stronger accountability measures as the transition continues.
The ongoing displacement crisis at Syria’s borders was detailed in the latter regional flash update of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). According to the update, roughly seven million civilians remain displaced in Syria, while more than 1.9 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) have returned home, with roughly half of them departing from IDP locations in northern Syria.
As of November 6, UNHCR has registered approximately 1,208,802 Syrians who have returned to Syria from neighboring countries since December 8, 2024. The majority of these returnees are expected to have left Türkiye, while UNHCR has registered around 550,000 Syrian returnees in the past year.
In addition, approximately 362,027 people have been recorded returning to Syria from Lebanon. Smaller numbers of returnees have been recorded returning from Jordan, Iraq, Egypt and distant countries. It is currently estimated that at least 1,476 Syrians have participated in the repatriation program organized by UNHCR, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the General Security Office (GSO).
Both internally displaced Syrians and those returning home continue to face harsh living conditions, exacerbated by severe shortages of humanitarian aid. UNHCR notes that additional funding is urgently needed to enable an effective political transition for citizens, with the organization noting widespread housing destruction, overwhelming underemployment and declining availability of access to basic services.
Relief operations are coming under increasing strain and are struggling to keep pace with the growing scale of needs across the country. Efforts are underway to get through the winter as the harsh temperatures are expected to worsen the already dire living conditions. UNHCR estimates that reduced funding threatens to leave around 750,000 Syrian refugees without winter aid.
“Humanitarian budgets are being stretched to breaking point and the winter support we provide will be much less this year,” said Dominique HydeDirector of External Relations of UNHCR. “Families will have to endure freezing temperatures without things many of us take for granted: a good roof, insulation, heating, blankets, warm clothes or medicine.”
UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi urged the international community, the private sector and Syrian communities to “come together and intensify their efforts to support recovery” to ensure that returns are dignified and sustainable. “With renewed commitment, the international community can help maintain hope and support stability and lasting solutions to one of the largest refugee situations of our time,” Grandi said.
To support displaced Syrian families ahead of the harsh winter season, UNHCR has stepped up its winter assistance across Syria, providing more than 17,000 displaced and returned families with essential non-food items. The agency delivered winter packages containing winter essentials such as blankets, heaters, mattresses and warm clothing in Aleppo, Hama, Dar’a, Quneitra, Homs, Qamishli, Sweida and rural Damascus.
“Our teams are on the ground, determined to protect refugees from the cold, but we are running out of time and resources,” Hyde added. “We need more funding to make many people’s lives a little more bearable.” UNHCR aims to raise at least $35 million to repair damaged homes, insulate shelters and provide warmth, blankets and other necessities for children and the elderly, along with funding for medicine and hot meals.
To help meet the most urgent needs, UNHCR has continued to distribute support through its Return and Reintegration Financial Assistance programme, providing crucial financial assistance to more than 45,000 returnees. In addition, over 24,500 returnees have been supported at key border crossings with Turkey and Lebanon over the course of this year, with UNHCR and its partners continuing to monitor civilian movement and well-being through home visits and referrals to life-saving services.
Despite these efforts, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has underlined growing insecurity in Syria, marked by “worrying reports” of continued enforced disappearances and kidnappings. On November 7, OHCHR spokesperson Thameen Al-Keetan informed reporters in Geneva that at least 97 people have been kidnapped since the beginning of the year, in addition to the more than 100,000 who went missing during the Assad regime’s fifty-year rule.
Karla Quintana, the head of the Independent Institution for Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic (IIMP), added that “everyone in Syria knows someone who is missing.” OHCHR also points to the disappearance of Hamza Al-Amarin, a volunteer with the Syrian Civil Defense, who went missing in July this year while assisting a humanitarian evacuation mission in Sweida. OHCHR and its partners continue to push for strengthened accountability measures and the protection of all humanitarian personnel.
“We emphasize that all armed actors – whether exercising state power or otherwise – must respect and protect humanitarian workers at all times and in all places, as required by international human rights law and applicable humanitarian law,” Al-Keetan said. “Accountability and justice for all human rights violations and abuses, past and present, are essential for Syria to build a sustainable, peaceful and secure future for all its people.”
IPS UN office report
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