UNITED NATIONS, March 4. /TASS/. Nearly 1.2 million Syrians have gone back to their former places of residence since the shift of power in Syria in December 2024, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.
"Since December, nearly 1.2 million people have now returned to their areas of origin in Syria. This includes nearly 900,000 people who had been internally displaced in November and December, as well as 300,000 from other countries," OCHA said in its report.
Since December last year, fewer than 100,000 people have departed displacement camps in northwestern Syria, citing "insecurity, damaged homes, inadequate services and the threat of unexploded ordnance" as a key barrier to their return to former places of residence, the report reads.
According to OCHA and its partners, "more than 656,000 people who fled their homes since November of last year remain displaced." This number has increased by 39,000 people in the past two weeks, "particularly in the governorates of Al-Hasakah, Homs and Hama," the office said.
"As security, logistical and funding conditions permit, we and our partners continue to assist returnees and those who are not yet able to return under safe and dignified conditions," OCHA stressed, specifying that humanitarian assistance continues to be provided in displacement camps in northern Syria, where more than two million people still reside.
In late November 2024, members of armed opposition groups launched a major offensive against government positions in the Aleppo and Idlib governorates. They entered Damascus on December 8, prompting the withdrawal of Syrian army units from the city. Syria’s former leader Bashar Assad resigned as president and left the country.