Please refer to the attached file.
Syria has entered a new phase marked by large-scale returns and persistent humanitarian vulnerability.
While around 1.7 million refugees and 1.9 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) have returned since December 2024, 15.6 million people still require humanitarian assistance.
As return movements continue, ensuring sustainable reintegration through access to housing, services, documentation, livelihoods and community support is becoming a defining priority for Syria’s recovery.
In line with Syria’s National Recovery Priorities and the Government’s “No Tents, No Camps” vision, UNHCR supports this maintaining transition protection while and humanitarian assistance for vulnerable populations.
Operational Context
Syria is experiencing sustained refugee and IDP returns while humanitarian needs remain widespread. Conditions remain volatile in parts of the country, while damaged housing, limited access to services, documentation barriers and economic hardship continue to affect communities receiving returnees and constrain sustainable reintegration.
Recognizing that sustainable return increasingly depends on economic recovery, UNHCR participated in the Private Sector National Conference, organized by the Ministry of Economy and Industry and UNDP, to discuss economic recovery priorities. Through its side event, From Return to Recovery: Private Sector Engagement with Returnees, UNHCR highlighted the role of private-sector investment, employment opportunities and entrepreneurship in supporting reintegration and reducing long-term dependency on humanitarian assistance.
The second round of the Enhanced Regional Perceptions and Intentions Survey, covering Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt and published by UNHCR and the World Bank in April, found that only 14% of refugee households intend to return within the next 12 months, while 77% express a long-term aspiration to return, indicating that willingness to return remains higher than confidence in current conditions inside Syria. Those who did not intend to return cited lack of adequate housing, limited access to basic services, safety and security concerns, and lack of employment and economic opportunities as the main barriers to return.
Through community- and area-based approaches, UNHCR supports refugees, IDPs, returnees, host communities across Syria, focusing on protection, selfreliance, and local recovery in areas of greatest need.
In 2026, UNHCR collaborates with 26 partners, including ministries, other UN agencies and international and national non-governmental organizations in all 14 governorates.