Faced with a swarm of economic, security and authoritarian challenges in neighboring countries, hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees who fled the civil war have returned home, despite the grim security and safety situation that awaits them. For many, this decision had serious consequences. A recent report from the United Nations Human Rights Office finds that many refugees who fled conflict to neighboring countries over the past decade "face a multitude of human rights violations and abuses when they return to Syria".
The report reveals incidents in various regions of the country carried out by the de local authorities, the Syrian government and a range of armed groups. Returnees face a multitude of threats from “all parties to the conflict,” including sudden disappearances, arbitrary arrests, torture, ill-treatment and even death in custody, the report said.
After returning to Syria, many returnees interviewed by the UN Human Rights Office said they were summoned for questioning by Syrian security services. Others reported being arrested and detained by government authorities in regime-held areas, by Haiya Tahrir al-Sham or Turkish-affiliated armed groups in the northwest, or by the Syrian Democratic Forces in the northeast.
Non-expulsion is a fundamental principle of international law which prohibits a country receiving asylum seekers from returning them to a country where they would risk persecution.
But fear of persecution has not stopped thousands of Syrians who had sought refuge abroad from returning home in recent years.
Since 2016, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has verified or monitored the return to Syria of at least 388,679 Syrians from neighboring countries as of November 30, 2023.
Although Syrians enjoyed great international sympathy at the start of the civil war in 2011, and when Daesh extremists conquered large areas of the country in 2014, the conflict is now seen as a prolonged conflict that few governments are really interested in addressing.
Since violence erupted in Syria, more than 14 million people have fled their homes, according to UN figures. As from these, some 5.5 million have sought refuge in Turkey, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and Egypt, while more than 6.8 million remain internally displaced.
Syrians living in these host countries have also faced hostility and discrimination from local communities. This hostile environment has been made worse by the rise of anti-refugee rhetoric.
In the case of Lebanon, for example, the protective incentives for Syrians are virtually non-existent, as the refugees could face persecution, because basic services are on the verge of collapse, unemployment is widespread and inflation is high. Moreover, Syrian refugees live in constant fear of deportation, particularly since the Lebanese armed forces summarily expelled thousands of Syrians in April 2023, including many unaccompanied minors.
In Türkiye, the situation is also becoming extremely difficult for Syrian refugees. Although the country hosts around 3.6 million registered Syrian refugees, they have not been offered a place in Turkish political debates over their plight.
However, the lack of economic opportunities in neighboring countries is the main factor that pushed Syrians to return home or emigrate elsewhere.
While several host governments have discussed developing plans for the repatriation of Syrian refugees to Syria, UNHCR said last year that the country was not suitable for a safe and dignified return.
According to UN statistics, the number of the Syrian refugees in Türkiye is 3.6 million, in Lebanon 1.5 million, in Jordan 651,000, in Iraq 270,000, and in Egypt 155,000.