As displaced people return to destroyed communities in southern Idlib, local initiatives are emerging as stopgap solutions for basic repairs and services, stepping into some roles that are the responsibility of Syria’s new administration.
As Syrians return home, Turkey is losing cheap labor and small businesses, sparking apprehension about the future of the country’s labor market.
Returns to Afrin increased following agreements between the SDF and Damascus, with some villages seeing more than 80 percent of their displaced Kurdish residents return. Others are waiting for an organized return with security guarantees.
Aid cuts have deepened a water and sanitation crisis impacting hundreds of internal displacement camps in northwestern Syria, where humanitarian organizations have long provided essential services.
Thousands of Alawites have fled to Lebanon following sectarian killings on the Syrian coast. Local residents are springing into action, while some fear a spillover of violence.
Despite an improved political and security situation in many parts of Syria, tens of thousands of Syrians have continued to flock to Lebanon since the Assad regime fell last December.
Around 25,000 people have returned to Darayya, just south of Damascus, since the regime fell. Destruction and a worsening housing crisis prevents the return of others to the battered city, home to 350,000 people before 2011.
The Zaatari refugee camp’s bustling economy ground to a halt when the Assad regime fell. Local shopkeepers say the value of their businesses has collapsed as residents uncertain about their future in Jordan save money and only buy necessities.
Since Turkish-backed factions took control of northern Aleppo at the start of December, more than 70,000 displaced people have returned to Afrin and its countryside, while others fled to northeastern Syria fearing abuses.
Only 3,106 Syrian refugees out of 717,000 registered with the UN in Jordan have returned to Syria since Assad fell, as crossing the border is a one-way trip to a country that is not yet stable.
