Alongside the Turkish border, numerous informal camps are spread out, housing displaced individuals from villages and towns deep within Syria, who have been living there for years, fleeing military operations carried out by the ousted Assad regime in their homes.

The presence of the regime itself in villages and towns in the rural areas of Idlib, Hama, and Aleppo has been a major reason preventing the displaced from returning to their areas, forcing them to live under extremely poor conditions marked by severe cold in winter and intense heat in summer, exacerbating their humanitarian suffering.

Since December 8, 2024, when the fall of the Assad regime in Damascus was announced, roads between areas of influence and control were opened, allowing the displaced to return to their areas, but many factors have prevented most of them from heading back to their villages, chiefly housing and infrastructure, along with economic conditions.

Ahmad al-Hussein, a man in his fifties residing in the Bira Keftin camp in northern Idlib, believes that returning to his hometown of al-Bawabiyah in southern Aleppo countryside is extremely difficult at this time.

He has not made the decision to return, as he told Enab Baladi, pointing out that he has no home to return to in his village, while suffering from poor economic conditions that prevent him from rebuilding his house.

He added that his current situation with his family in the camp is better as he at least has shelter, which he cannot secure in his village.

Al-Hussein has many concerns that go beyond mere housing; he believes that returning to his home from which he was displaced years ago would require starting from scratch again, especially since he can barely afford the price of a loaf of bread for his family.

Infrastructure does not encourage return

In the Kuwaiti camp in the small village of Harbanoush in northern Idlib, 45-year-old Jawad Muhammad, who is displaced from the village of Qabr Fiddah located in the al-Ghab Plain in northern Hama, has not left his place and does not think about it.

Muhammad has many reasons preventing him from returning, primarily the lack of infrastructure in his village, which has witnessed military operations over the past ten years.

The young man told Enab Baladi that he does not plan to return in the near future due to the absence of water, schools, and the destruction that has afflicted the homes in the area, including his own.

Millions in tents

The United Nations stated that nearly two million Syrians are still living in tents in northwestern Syria more than three months after the fall of the Syrian regime, primarily due to the lack of available housing.

The UN organization reported on March 18 that among the 1.95 million people still living in camps and unofficial displacement sites in northwestern Syria, only a few have returned to their villages.

It added that these numbers are based on a recent survey conducted, noting that nearly one million people do not currently see any hope of returning in the near future due to a lack of housing and adequate services as primary reasons.

On the other hand, the UN stated that more than one million people from the camps plan to return to their homes within the next 12 months.

The UN representative in Syria, Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, said following his visit to the camps in northwestern Syria, “For returnees to be able to stay and for more to return, there is an urgent need for an increase in humanitarian assistance.”

He added that the rebuilding of homes, livelihood provision activities, and helping residents obtain civil documentation are activities where the UN “has extensive experience” in implementing across Syria, but due to limited funding, “we had to implement these activities on a very small scale.”

A pressing challenge

On March 17, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, stated that the pressing challenge facing the international community is “to ensure that residents, upon their return to their communities, have enough essentials: shelter, electricity, water, sanitation, education, and work.”

He added that with the spring approaching, the end of Ramadan, and the start of the academic year, “we expect more refugees and displaced people to return to their cities.”

He pointed out that the latest surveys conducted by the UNHCR showed that 80% of refugees hope to return one day, while 27% expressed their intention to return within the next year, with this percentage having significantly increased in recent weeks.

Grandi had previously stated on January 30 that the return of Syrian refugees to their country would take a long time.

He added that many refugees are waiting to see how the situation in Syria evolves in the coming period before making a decision to return.