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The Real Reasons Why Syrians Return to Syria

A small number of Syrian refugees are returning home despite the violence in the country. New research among returnees shows that most were pushed home by the harsh living conditions in neighboring countries, and did not find safety or dignity upon return.

Written by Saskia Baas Published on Read time Approx. 4 minutes
Members of civil defense carry out a search-and-rescue operation after an airstrike hits the city center of Idlib, Syria, on February 5, 2018. Ahmet Rahhal/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

More than 12 million Syrians have been displaced since 2011: more than half of Syria’s pre-war population. Most want nothing more than to return home.

Yet the situation in the country remains too unsafe at the moment. Whole cities have been destroyed, and many areas are cluttered with land mines and unexploded ordnance, posing further challenges to the safe, voluntary and sustainable repatriation of refugees to Syria.

Despite these challenges, a small number of refugees do return to Syria each month. While this may seem like a positive development, research by the Durable Solutions Platform, an NGO-led research initiative, indicates that the returns result from unsafe and precarious living conditions in asylum and are not a sign that the situation in Syria has improved.

Over the past year, we have spoken to more than 1,000 Syrian refugees, internally displaced persons and returnees as part of our ongoing research. The picture that emerges from these discussions is one of increasing vulnerability, poverty and desperation in displacement.

The Harsh Reality of Life in Displacement

The vast majority of displaced Syrians have remained in the region. Over 6 million people are displaced inside Syria, while Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan have jointly absorbed another 5 million refugees. Six humanitarian NGOs recently sketched the increasingly dire situation of Syrian refugees in the Middle East in a report “Dangerous Ground.”

Refugees face severe challenges in securing decent standards of living in Syria’s neighboring countries. Over half of Syrian refugees in the region live below the poverty line. Barriers to accessing health and education services are leaving an alarming 43 percent of refugee children out of school.

Many Syrians feel alienated from their host communities and looked down upon. Experiences of discrimination are common. As a refugee in Lebanon explained during one of our group discussions: “Most people are blaming Syrians for the increases in rents, lack of jobs and other things. I am suffering, because people are not accepting us.”

The harsh conditions of day-to-day life and the constant feeling of being a burden on host societies makes many refugees lose hope that their situation will improve. As a result, some anticipate that they may be better off returning to Syria, as a refugee in Turkey explained to us: “Life here is very difficult. I am a teacher but I have no job until now. Those problems will push me back into Syria despite war conditions.”

Making the Decision to Return

It is clear from our research among returnees that it is these harsh living conditions that are starting to push Syrians to return. In a recent study, we asked 400 returnees about their life in displacement, their decision to return and their situation upon return.

Economic hardship and discrimination in countries of asylum were among the primary reasons for refugees to return: 61 percent of returnees report the lack of secure income as the main reason to return, while 43 percent could no longer cope with the humiliation and discrimination in asylum countries. The latter trend was particularly strong among those returning from Lebanon, where some refugees also indicated feeling increasingly unsafe.

As refugees feel less at home in Syria’s neighboring countries, the desire to return to their homes in Syria became stronger. Seventy-one percent of refugees indicated that homesickness was a strong pull factor to return.

Importantly, neighboring countries’ closed border policies created another motivation to return. Syrians can no longer reunite with their family members by bringing them into relative safety in Turkey, Lebanon or Jordan. Return, then, became the only way to keep their family together. Nearly 40 percent of refugee returnees had returned for this purpose.

Refugees who face severe obstacles finding decent work or starting a business may expect to have a better chance of securing an income in Syria. Indeed, for one third of returnees, this assumption partially informed their decision to return.

Yet, when asked about their situation upon return, most returnees experienced difficulties in finding jobs in their home areas. Nearly half of those who returned were not able to secure employment.

As a result, the vast majority of returnees told us that they had to reduce their daily meals to make ends meet. To feed their families, almost half of returnees had to borrow money to cover basic living expenses. Further, the destruction of basic infrastructure and services created major obstacles to returnees’ access to healthcare, education, water and electricity.

Most returnees did not find safety back in their home areas. Forty percent of refugee returnees were concerned about the safety of their families, because of ongoing violence, crime and the presence of land mines in their area.

Ensure Protection of Refugees

Syria’s ongoing conflict and insecurity, limited livelihood opportunities and lack of access to services – including water, health, education and electricity – all are yet to be addressed in order for refugees to have the option to return home in safety and dignity.

However, precarious living conditions in refugee hosting countries in the region are pushing refugees to return to Syria, placing their lives at risk.

In order to minimize these push factors for refugees to return, the international community should fulfill humanitarian and development funding commitments. This includes pledges made at the London and Brussels conferences. In addition, pledges for resettlement or other forms of humanitarian admissions for vulnerable refugees must be increased.

Syrians must be enabled to build a dignified future outside of their home country until a sustainable resolution of the conflict is reached.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Refugees Deeply.

This story originally appeared on Refugees Deeply

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