More than 400,000 Syrian refugees who fled to Turkey after the outbreak of the Syrian civil war have already returned home since the end of Bashar al-Assad’s dictatorship in early December last year, according to the latest data announced by the Interior Ministry of Turkey, which for several years was the world’s largest refugee country.
According to data published by Turkey’s Migration Management Directorate and reported by the Anatolia news agency, a total of 411,649 Syrians have returned to their country since 8 December 2024 – the date on which the Syrian rebel offensive took Damascus, precipitating Assad’s flight to Russia – and, moreover, in recent weeks the pace of voluntary returns to Syria has accelerated, with some 140,000 departures across the Turkish border to Syria recorded since mid-June.
This brings the number of Syrians who have voluntarily returned home since 2016 to 1,151,652 people, according to official data. The process for those Syrian refugees who wish to return to their homeland is done by appointment at the migration centres in the province where they are registered, where applicants receive a ‘voluntary return document’ and a travel permit to travel to the border, being driven in buses along with their belongings to the border crossings located in the provinces of Hatay, Kilis, Gaziantep or Şanlıurfa.
Another option is to go directly to the border crossings, where after verification of their identity and completion of customs procedures, they receive permission to cross to the other side of the border. The whole process is supervised by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
2.5 million Syrian refugees still living in Turkey
Ömer Zivan, who has been living in Turkey for 13 years, told the agency he was excited to return to his country, although he also has some fears about starting a new life after so many years: “We have had a wonderful time in Turkey: people helped us, the government helped us… Our country is safe now, and our plans are to go back home and take care of our business. We will improve our country a little bit, and we will bring back what we have learned in Turkey“.
“My father Erdoğan, God bless you. The Turks have always helped us a lot. I have never seen anything bad from them. I am excited and happy to go back to my country, but I will come to Turkey on a trip,” said Ahmet Sali, another Syrian refugee who has lived in Turkey for eight years.
Last year, as part of Ankara’s efforts to facilitate the voluntary return of Syrian refugees to their country, the Turkish government announced a programme allowing one member of each Syrian family to make up to three return trips between Turkey and Syria before settling permanently in the country, in order to check whether the conditions for their return to Syria are met. Even so, and despite the massive return of Syrians since the fall of Assad, according to the latest data more than 2.5 million Syrians (2,543,711 to be exact) of the 3.7 million that Turkey had at one time are still living on Turkish territory.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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