Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced on Sunday that 474,018 Syrian nationals returned to their country from Türkiye after Dec. 8, 2024. “Since 2016, the number of Syrians voluntarily returning has reached (more than) 1.2 million people,” Yerlikaya said in a social media post on his NSosyal account.

The numbers are significant as they show refugees who have called Türkiye home since the unrest began in the country’s southern neighbor more than a decade ago are eager to return home. Most refugees went on to build new lives and families expanded over time. They had little prospect of returning home as the country succumbed to further devastation due to years of conflict.

The fall of the Baathist regime last December paved the way for the return of refugees from Türkiye, which at one time hosted the largest Syrian refugee community.

Yerlikaya said developments since December accelerated the return while praising Türkiye’s migration management model. “Under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the migration management, based on Türkiye’s historic experience, humanitarian approach and rational point of view, set an exemplary model. We exert great sensitivity in voluntary return processes of our Syrian brothers and sisters,” Yerlikaya said in his post.

Türkiye eased restrictions on its border crossings with Syria after the fall of the Baathist regime, but the number of returnees fluctuated between 1,300 and 1,400 people daily initially.

Authorities were expecting a climb in returns when schools started summer recess in June and projections proved true. After June 20, daily crossings reached 2,500. At one point, numbers receded due to the Iran-Israel conflict that threatened to push the region into another episode of turmoil, but following a fragile cease-fire between the two countries, crossings increased again. The border gates have a capacity allowing the crossing of 3,000 people daily as they undergo comprehensive checks before traveling into Syria.

Türkiye expects more Syrians will return home soon, with the return of Syrians working as seasonal laborers in fields and orchards across Türkiye, from Mersin and Antalya to the provinces of Burdur and Isparta.

The wide-scale destruction, including basic infrastructure, remains a major barrier to returns. According to the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR), some 13.5 million Syrians remain displaced internally or abroad.

Syria’s conflict displaced around half the prewar population, with many internally displaced people seeking refuge in camps in the northwest.

With the recent lifting of Western sanctions, the new Syrian authorities hope for international support to launch reconstruction, which the U.N. estimates could cost more than $400 billion.

Refugees in Lebanon, Germany

Elsewhere, more than 200,000 Syrian refugees have returned to their homeland from neighboring Lebanon this year following the fall of the Baathist regime, a U.N. official told AFP. Lebanese authorities recently introduced a plan offering $100 in aid and exemptions from fines for refugees leaving the country, provided they pledge not to return as asylum seekers.

“Since the beginning of this year, we’re looking at about 200,000 Syrians who have gone back, most of them on their own,” said Kelly Clements, deputy high commissioner at the UNHCR, earlier this month. “That number is increasing very quickly,” she told AFP in an interview.

While many Syrians are heading back to Hama, Homs and Aleppo, most refugees remain in Lebanon, where humanitarian needs remain high amid shrinking aid budgets. Clements stressed the UNHCR was not encouraging returns, describing it as “an individual choice for each family to make.” Lebanese authorities estimate that the country hosts about 1.5 million Syrian refugees. The U.N. says it has registered more than 755,000.

UNHCR support for returnees includes small-scale housing repairs, cash assistance and core relief items, though more intensive reconstruction is beyond the agency’s capacity.

About 80% of Syrian housing was damaged during the civil war, with one in three families needing housing support, according to Clement.

The majority of Syrians who fled the 14-year civil war to Lebanon remain there, she noted, with needs remaining high as humanitarian aid decreases. “You see the Lebanon budget decreasing, you see the Syrian budget increasing,” she said, pointing out, however, that the UNHCR’s 2025 plan only reached a fifth of its needed funds. The agency is unable to determine whether Syria as a whole was safe to return to, she said, as parts of Syria were “safe and peaceful” while other parts were “less secure.”

The rise in returns is also evident in Germany. The German Interior Ministry told dpa that the number of returns, on the other hand, was still relatively low. The low level of returns is linked to security risks and the heavily destroyed infrastructure following the civil war, aid organizations have reported.

By the end of August 1,867 Syrians had left Germany with federal assistance, up from 804 at the end of May. Returns are also supported through state-level programmes, while others depart without official aid. Janine Lietmeyer, a board member of World Vision Germany who visited Syria in August, said families often struggle with the decision to return. She noted that relative normality in central Damascus contrasts sharply with hardship in other regions, making reintegration difficult.

For the returnees, in addition to the still difficult security situation in some regions, fundamental questions arise, such as: “Is there a functioning school? How many hours a day do I have electricity? Are there any housing options at all?”

Lietmeyer said that in some former opposition strongholds, practically all houses are destroyed. Residual munitions make staying in these areas dangerous.

At the end of July, according to the Central Register of Foreigners (AZR), just under 955,000 Syrian nationals were living in Germany, about 20,000 fewer than at the beginning of the year.

However, this does not mean that Syrians are leaving the country in large numbers.

The Federal Statistical Office recorded only 1,562 departures to Syria in the first five months of this year. However, not everyone who leaves deregisters, which leads to delays in updating the AZR data.

Last year, around 83,150 Syrians became German citizens, Interior Ministry data showed. Figures for 2025 are not yet available.

Many of the refugees who arrived in Germany in 2015 or 2016 now meet the criteria for naturalization, from securing their own livelihood to German language skills. At the same time, new asylum applications continue: Between January and August, 17,650 Syrians applied for protection at the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF).

However, since the change in the German government, applications from Syrian nationals are generally not being decided upon, except for a few exceptions and cases where it is clarified whether another European country is responsible for the procedure.

This is justified by the fact that the situation in Syria is still subject to significant changes. This delay has resulted in 53,187 cases from Syrians accumulating at the authority, with a decision still pending. The Foreign Office did present an updated report on the situation in Syria at the end of May, which is intended to help BAMF with its decisions on asylum applications.

The only Syrians whose protection status BAMF is now deciding on, according to a directive from the Interior Ministry from this summer, are criminals and so-called threats, namely, people suspected of a serious, politically motivated crime.

They do not yet expect to have rapid deportation, even though Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) has stressed that he wants to make progress in this area.

There have been no deportations from Germany to Syria since 2012. “The Federal Ministry of the Interior is working intensively to enable returns to Syria, as agreed in the coalition agreement and to support the states in this,” said a spokesperson.