In a Turkish border city swelled by Syrians, many prepare to leave

KILIS — On a sunny spring morning, three women gathered in the courtyard of Kareemat, a women-led peacebuilding organization in Kilis, a southern Turkish city just five kilometers from the Syrian border. 

Sitting in the central patio, its striped walls, fountain and trees evoking the style of traditional Damascene homes, the trio talked over a question running through the minds of many in recent months: whether, and when, to return to Syria. 

“If my husband travels to Syria first to see how things are where we used to live, then later we can consider going back,” said Souad*, a 35-year-old with a serious gaze sitting in the middle of the small group. She, like many other Syrians interviewed for this report, asked to be identified only by her first name for safety reasons. 

Souad has felt a change in Kilis, a city transformed over the past 14 years by an influx of thousands of Syrian refugees, since Bashar al-Assad’s regime fell last December. People seem more understanding, encouraging Syrians to stay for now. “Most Turks tell us: ‘Don’t go back yet, things aren’t clear,’” she told Syria Direct. 

Fatima, a 27-year-old university student sitting to her left, nodded in agreement. “They are behaving normally with us because now it’s very clear that we will return to our country,” she said. 

“Most Syrians around us are heading back,” Samia, a 47-year-old fashion designer, added. “It’s a big problem for Turkish business and landlords.”

“As Syrians leave, fewer people will rent homes or work,” Fatima echoed. “You can see more rent or for sale signs being put up.”

Syrians make up a larger proportion of the population in Kilis—the main northern entry point into Turkey via Syria’s Bab al-Salama border crossing—than anywhere else in Turkey, at around 27 percent. Gaziantep has the second-highest proportion of Syrians, with around 14 percent. 

The three women, all of whom are from Aleppo city, took refuge in Kilis in 2012 during the war in their home country. For more than a decade, they have watched as the city swelled with Syrians like themselves, who built communities, opened businesses and created jobs. Now, they are watching as many leave.

‘Go and see’

Many Syrians—including Souad, Fatima and Samia—are wary of returning immediately to a country where their homes have been destroyed and basic services remain scarce, much of its infrastructure ravaged by 14 years of conflict. They want to return, but plan to resettle in Syria in a year or two. 

When the Assad regime was toppled on December 8, 2024, however, many displaced Syrians—inside or outside the country—were eager to visit their hometowns and check on the properties they left behind. 

On January 1, Turkey launched a “go and see” policy that allows one adult per Syrian household to make up to three temporary visits to Syria within a six-month period. The policy, which expires on July 1, allows refugees to assess conditions first hand before deciding whether to return. 

Turkish migration experts Syria Direct spoke to welcomed the policy, but warned against raising the Turkish public’s expectations of mass returns.

“It is a very good, bold but risky step by the Turkish government,” said Didem Danış, a professor of sociology at Galatasaray University whose research focuses on migration politics in Turkey. She pointed to prevalent anti-Syrian sentiment, with many Turks saying “if they can visit, they can stay—no need to return.” 

Danış did not expect to see mass returns from Turkey in the short term, and anticipated the government would extend the “go and see” policy beyond July 1. At most, 10 percent of Syrians could return this summer, she estimated. 

“It is more a ‘wait and see’ than a ‘go and see’ policy,” she said, citing interviews she conducted with Syrian refugees in several cities, not including Kilis, about their intentions to return or stay in Turkey.  

The imminent expiration of the policy worries some, as it remains unclear whether it will be extended, and how Turkish policies towards Syrians could change moving forward. 

“Six months isn’t enough to decide whether to return,” Samia said. She worries that, once the temporary visit policy expires, pressure on Syrians in Turkey could ramp up in the form of restrictions on temporary protection status or rollbacks to rights and services. 

A view of Kilis, a city in southern Turkey near the Syrian border, 28/5/2025 (Alessandra Bajec/Syria Direct)

‘You can see the difference’

Since 2013, the Kareemat women’s community center in Kilis has helped Syrian women find jobs and engage with the local community. Its founder and director Najlaa al-Sheikh, herself a Syrian refugee, advocates for refugees’ social and economic integration in Kilis. 

Speaking at her office, al-Sheikh described widespread “stress” among refugees in Turkey in recent years, caused by uncertain legal status, restrictive rules and fears of arrest and deportation. “Syrians are eager to return home; they’re tired of strict laws here,” she said. 

Racist attacks and hostility towards Syrian refugees has lessened in Kilis since Assad fell, al-Sheikh noted. Some Turks sympathize with Syrians, while others want refugees to return soon. 

While some Syrians with stable lives and children in Turkish schools choose to stay, many are likely to return. Kareemat’s staff estimates around 7,000 Syrian families have gone back via Kilis’s Oncupinar border gate since Assad fell. 

As more Syrians depart, Kilis is changing again: shops are closing, and labor shortages are hitting the textile, construction and manufacturing sectors as Turkish businesses struggle to replace low-wage Syrian workers. 

Read more: Apprehension in Turkey’s labor market as Syrians return home

“Eid al-Fitr is usually busy, but malls were nearly empty this year. Many Syrians, both shoppers and shopkeepers, have left,” al-Sheikh said. 

Relief worker Hussein Bitaar, who stopped by the Kareemat office, remarked on the visible changes in the city. “There are fewer cafes now, and hardly any shops selling Syrian spices. You can see the difference,” he said. 

Many Syrian NGOs in Kilis are moving operations to Syria. His own, which he did not name, has shrunk from 55 to 10 staff as most returned, he added. 

Kareemat is feeling the impact too, as donors increasingly shift their focus to funding new initiatives inside Syria. In the past four months, the center lost more than half of its projects, and can no longer meet its target numbers of beneficiaries, al-Sheikh said. 

‘No one knows what comes next’

While the level of destruction in Syria prevents many from returning, some have quickly adapted, repairing their properties or finding homes to buy or rent, Bitaar said. He gave the example of a colleague’s father, who rebuilt his house in Syria within four months and was preparing to bring the rest of the family over. 

But with the “go and see” policy set to expire next week, many Syrians are apprehensive, unsure whether future returns will be voluntary or pressured, Bitaar noted. “People are confused. The government hasn’t provided details,” he said. “No one knows what comes next.”

Turkey hosted more than 3 million Syrian refugees during the war, the largest number anywhere in the world. Since Assad fell, more than 273,000 Syrians have left Turkey to return home voluntarily, Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz said on June 13.

Ankara’s interior ministry anticipates more returns over the summer, particularly following the end of the school year on June 20. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said no Syrian will be forced to return, but soaring public unease fueled by economic stagnation has made refugees a political flashpoint in recent years. Xenophobic sentiments have boiled over into real-world violence on multiple occasions, as in the June 2024 mob attacks on Syrians in Kayseri. 

A smooth return process could help Erdoğan regain support before the 2028 presidential elections, following losses in the 2024 local elections to the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which pushes for refugee expulsions.

Many Syrians rushed to return early on, relying on positive accounts from relatives and social media, and unaware of the government’s “go and see” program, which requires applying for temporary visit permits, Kadri Güngörür, social welfare director of the Istanbul-based Refugees Association said 

“This led to hasty decisions, and later regret, as they hadn’t seen the situation for themselves,” he told Syria Direct, citing interviews with early returnees. 

A recent survey by his organization, which provides legal support and assistance to refugees and asylum seekers, found 75 percent of Syrians were not considering voluntary return.

Güngörür predicts a moderate rise in returns with the end of the school year but noted that, while the temporary visit program could be extended past July 1, the shape of Turkey’s future migration policies will depend on Syria’s political trajectory and whether Ankara sees a viable opportunity to push for returns. 

Syrian-owned businesses in Kilis advertise sales as owners prepare to close up shop and return to Syria, 28/5/2025 (Alessandra Bajec/Syria Direct)

‘We’ll rebuild our country’

Fatima Jneid, head of the Syrian-led Amal Ghad organization, fled to Turkey with her four children in the early years of the war, after her husband was detained by regime forces. Sitting in her office, she recalled how Syrians transformed Kilis into a bustling city. 

“When we arrived, there were no shops or restaurants open at night. Now the city is alive from morning to night,” she said, adding that Kilis could return to its quiet past as Syrians depart. 

Jneid, who lost three of her children in a cross-border Islamic State rocket attack on Kilis in April 2016, took out her phone to show a photo of herself and her surviving son celebrating Assad’s fall last December. When Syria Direct spoke to her at the end of May, she was considering returning to Syria after the Eid al-Adha holiday. 

“I’ll move this center to Syria” and continue providing support for women and children on the other side of the border, she said. By the end of June, Jneid had returned to Syria.

Nour (a pseudonym), a former English teacher from Idlib in her late 30s who asked not to be identified by name, dropped by the Amal Ghad office as Syria Direct spoke to Jneid. She also intended to return to Syria with her four children after the holiday. Her husband, who moved to Damascus in late February and found work there, was waiting for them. 

Though the couple lived in Kilis for 12 years and built a life there, Nour saw no future for herself. “We have Turkish citizenship, but would rather go back to Syria,” she said.

Ali, another visitor to the office, had just recently returned from Syria, where he opened a small decoration business near Aleppo in May. He planned to move back permanently in two days, but said Syrians need more time to make their decisions. 

“Six months is not sufficient for those with destroyed homes to decide,” Ali, whose own house was bombed, said. “We Syrians are hard workers, we’ll rebuild our country together,” he added.

Shuttered, padlocked storefronts on “Syria Street” signal the quiet closure of Syrian-run businesses, 28/5/2025 (Alessandra Bajec/Syria Direct)

‘Syrians can make a life anywhere’

A short walk from Amal Ghad’s office, Rami al-Humaidi, a man in his early 30s, stood outside his menswear shop, waiting for customers. He fled Syria for Kilis with his family five years ago. 

In 10 days, he planned to visit Syria to check conditions before returning with his wife and baby and restarting his business there. “My cousin says things are good. I just want to see for myself,” al-Humaidi said. “Thank God, we still have a house there.”

Concerns about Syrian children being bullied at school and work restrictions forcing Syrians into the informal sector factored into his own decision to leave. “Syrians can make a life anywhere,” he said hopefully. “We’ll start fresh again in Syria”. 

Just 15 minutes from his shop, a road known as “Syria Street” once buzzed with Syrian-run businesses. Now, many storefronts are shuttered or empty, with for rent signs and discount posters hinting at Syrians’ steady departure.

Murad Naoumi, a tall man in his 30s from Idlib, has run a formal dress business in Kilis since he first arrived as a teenager shortly before the 2011 revolution in his home country. After 15 years in Turkey, he plans to return to Syria in two months. 

“I’ll go back and start from zero. Syria is doing better now,” Naoumi said at his showroom, surrounded by colorful outfits for weddings and other special occasions. He is tired of investing in a trade he can easily rebuild at home, he added. 

His older brother, sitting nearby, disagreed. “Syria may be liberated, but it’s not safe or ready,” he said. Settled in Kilis with his family of eight, he has no plans to return, and worries about what will happen to Syrians like him once the six-month “go and see” period ends.