IOM: Large-scale return of refugees to Syria not recommended at present

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has advised against large-scale returns to Syria until the country achieves greater stability.

Speaking to Agence France-Presse (AFP) from Beirut yesterday, Director-General Amy Pope said: “People have the right to return home… but we are not advising any sort of large-scale return.”

She added that Syria’s infrastructure is not equipped to handle such an influx of people.

“Without investment in Syria, returning people to the country would only destabilise it further and likely create pressures that force people to migrate again.”

Meanwhile, Rema Jamous Imseis, regional director for the UNHCR in the Middle East and North Africa, said yesterday that around one million Syrian refugees are expected to return to their country in the first half of 2025. She urged countries to refrain from forcibly repatriating them.

“Now we have forecasted that we hope to see somewhere in the order of 1 million Syrians returning between January and June next year so we shared this plan with donors, asking for their support,” Imseis said, according to Reuters.

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