Two million Syrians return home since Assad’s fall: UN

By AFP
June 20, 2025
A demonstrator holds a Syrian opposition flag as members of the Syrian community chant slogans in Syntagma square in Athens to celebrate the end of the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad after rebel fighters took control of the Syrian capital Damascus overnight, on December 8, 2024. — AFP
A demonstrator holds a Syrian opposition flag as members of the Syrian community chant slogans in Syntagma square in Athens to celebrate the end of the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad after rebel fighters took control of the Syrian capital Damascus overnight, on December 8, 2024. — AFP

BEIRUT, Lebanon: Over two million Syrians who had fled their homes during their country´s war have returned since Bashar al-Assad´s overthrow in December, UN refugee agency chief Filippo Grandi said Thursday during a regional visit.

The Syrian civil war, which erupted in 2011 with Assad´s brutal repression of anti-government protests, displaced half of the population internally or abroad. But Assad´s December 8 ouster at the hands of Islamist forces sparked hopes of return.

“Over two million Syrian refugees and displaced have returned home since December,” Grandi wrote on X during a visit to neighbouring Lebanon, which hosts about 1.5 million Syrian refugees, according to official estimates. It is “a sign of hope amid rising regional tensions,” said Grandi, who is due to visit Syria on Friday.