Attachments
Introduction
Approximately 2.04 million IDPs have returned to their areas of origin in the Syrian Arab Republic (hereafter referred to as Syria) since the shift in power on 8 December 2024. The political, humanitarian, and mobility landscape continues to develop alongside persisting return intentions. The regional escalation in hostilities that began on 28 February 2026 disrupted essential services, triggered displacement, generated cross-border movements from Lebanon, and temporarily restricted access along key routes. Although conditions have since stabilised following the ceasefire announced on 17 April 2026, movements from Lebanon continue, adding pressure to an already complex return environment characterized by sustained return flows, emerging vulnerabilities, and evolving operational challenges. Within this dynamic landscape, the International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) is releasing the fifth round of the Communities of Return Index (CoRI). This series monitors conditions in areas already witnessing or anticipating return movements, as well as communities hosting mixed populations of returnees and residents, and potential locations of return, such as urban areas and highly populated communities. The assessment evaluates whether these locations offer an environment conducive to safe, dignified, and sustainable reintegration. As of April 2026, the population of Syria is estimated at 27.90 million. Of this total, approximately 5.87 million individuals remain internally displaced, while 2.04 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) have returned to their areas of origin since December 2024. In addition, an estimated 1.34 million individuals have arrived from abroad and are currently residing across the country’s 14 governorates.1 For this report, the term “returnees” encompasses both IDPs who have returned and individuals arriving from abroad, irrespective of whether they have settled in their community of origin or in an alternative location. Returnees continue to face disruptions to livelihoods, limited access to services, and fragile housing conditions. These individual-level constraints are often compounded by structural changes that occurred in communities during periods of absence, such as damaged infrastructure, reduced service capacity, and altered socio-economic dynamics in areas of return. To advance durable solutions programming, this report analyses conditions in communities currently experiencing return movements. It aims to provide an evidence base on prevailing risks, needs, and service gaps to inform humanitarian, government, and development planning. The findings are intended to assist national and local authorities, humanitarian and development actors, and donor partners in identifying priority geographic areas for thematic assessments and in guiding targeted, area-based interventions. The analytical framework is informed by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Framework on Durable Solutions for Internally Displaced Persons and focuses on five principal dimensions: safety and security; standards of living; livelihoods; Housing, Land and Property (HLP); and access to civil documentation.2 These thematic pillars are applied at community level to assess the extent to which locations provide conditions conducive to safe, dignified, and sustainable reintegration. The governorate, district, and sub-district level scores presented in this report are calculated by aggregating the scores from individual communities (admin level 4). For community-level data, please reference the dataset on the DTM Syria webpage.