UN refugee agency expects 1 million Syrians to return in six months

A UN refugee agency official has said that some 1 million Syrian refugees are expected to return to the country in the first six months of 2025, asking states to refrain from forcing them to do so.

A lightning rebel advance swept Syria's President Bashar al-Assad from power this month, shocking the world and raising the prospect that some of the millions of people who fled the country during its 13-year civil war might return.

"Now we have forecasted that we hope to see somewhere in the order of 1 million Syrians returning between January and June next year so we shared this plan with donors, asking for their support," said Rema Jamous Imseis, UNHCR Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

"We have massive humanitarian needs on a scale that hasn't in any way diminished," she added, noting that 1 million people have been internally displaced since the...