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Over 25,000 refugees return to Syria from Turkiye, following fall of Assad regime

December 25, 2024 at 10:42 am

Syrians in Hatay move towards the Cilvegozu Border Gate between Turkiye and Syria after the collapse of sixty-one years of Baath Party rule in Syria, on December 17, 2024 [Lale Köklü Karagöz/Anadolu Agency]

Over 25,000 Syrian nationals have reportedly returned to Syria from Turkiye so far this month, following the recent collapse of the late regime of Bashar al-Assad and the stabilisation of security throughout much of the country.

According to Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, who spoke to the outlet Anadolu Agency, more than 25,000 Syrians left Turkiye and returned to their country between 9 December and 23 December, departing from the roughly 3 million Syrian refugees – as well and their Turkiye-born children – who fled from Syria throughout the 13-year-long civil war.

With more than 763,000 Syrians reportedly having returned to Syria from Turkiye since 2017, the events of the first week of this month have facilitated the potential safe return of the refugees and displaced to their home country and areas – something which was fraught with danger under the late Assad regime and its security forces.

A survey by Istanbul-based organisation Areda, cited by the news agency, revealed that – out of 1,100 Syrians surveyed across Turkiye earlier this month – 91 percent of Syrians were happy with the fall of the Assad regime and 71.5 percent are hopeful about Syria’s future. It further showed that 45.5 percent of Syrians are willing to return if the situation there improves, while 26.7 percent were eager to return “as soon as possible”.

READ: After Assad: the hard way out for Syrian refugees returning from Turkiye

With 61 percent of Syrians in Turkiye reportedly hailing from Aleppo, which was the first major city to be liberated by the former rebels this month, it means a vast majority of those displaced Syrians finally have the chance to go back.

Amid that outflow of returnees, Yerlikaya revealed that they are subject to certain screening processes prior to crossing the border into Syria, including having their legal records checked on a centralised system and still being required to present a travel permit that they had enabled them to travel throughout Turkiye while residing there. “If they do not have a criminal record that requires their arrest or incarceration, they are allowed to cross into Syria from one of six border crossings”, the minister said.

Yerlikaya also revealed that the Turkish government will be setting up migration management offices in Damascus and Aleppo located in the Turkish embassy and consulate, which would assist the new Syrian authorities in accessing records of returnees. “The new administration [in Syria] is still establishing its interior ministry. We have records of displaced Syrians but the administration does not have proper records as terrorist groups and the former regime destroyed archives, from the civic registry to the land registry”, he stated.

READ: Jordan: 12,800 Syrians returned to their country since fall of Assad