UNHCR Expects One Million Syrian Refugees to Return in 2026
ARK News.. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has projected that around one million Syrian refugees are expected to return to their country during 2026, amid what it described as a “gradual recovery” in Syria following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime on 8 December 2024.
Speaking in an interview with Turkey’s Anadolu Agency, published on Monday, 21 December 2025, UNHCR’s Representative in Syria, Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, said that approximately 1.3 million Syrian refugees and nearly two million internally displaced persons have returned to their areas of origin since December 2024.
He noted that “this large-scale return is taking place under extremely difficult conditions,” stressing that international financial support is an urgent and critical necessity to ensure stability and prevent a further deterioration of the humanitarian situation.
The UN official explained that this means more than three million Syrians have returned to their homes within a relatively short period of time, in a country exhausted by years of war at the economic, infrastructural, and service levels.
Vargas Llosa recalled that on 9 December 2024, he and his team traveled to the Lebanese border, where they witnessed thousands of Syrians spontaneously returning home after more than 14 years of forced displacement.
He added that many returnees expressed overwhelming joy upon reaching their homeland, with some kissing the ground upon arrival. Most of the returnees came from Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan, with smaller numbers returning from Egypt and Iraq.
He concluded by noting that “the fear that once dominated Syrian society has rapidly receded, replaced by a widespread sense of hope.”
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