International desk:
Nearly 2,00,000 Syrian refugees have returned home since the fall of Bashar al-Assad in early December, the UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi said Saturday ahead of a visit to the region.
Between December 8 and January 16, some 1,95,200 Syrians returned home, according to figures published by Grandi on X.
‘Soon I will visit Syria — and its neighbouring countries — as UNHCR steps up its support to returnees and receiving communities,’ Grandi said.
Hundreds of thousands of Syrians had returned home last year as they fled Lebanon to escape Israeli attacks during its conflict with the Hezbollah militant group.
Those returns came before a lightning offensive by Islamist rebels late last year ousted Assad, raising hopes of an end to a 13-year civil war that killed over half million dead and sent millions seeking refuge abroad.
Turkey, which shares a 900-kilometre border with Syria, hosts some 2.9 million Syrians who have fled since 2011.
Turkish authorities, who are hoping to see many of those refugees return to ease growing anti-Syrian sentiment among the population,
are allowing one member of each refugee family to make three round trips until July 1, 2025 to prepare for their resettlement.
