Idlib, Sept. 28 (SANA) A convoy carrying 308 displaced Syrian families has left camps in northern Syria for their home areas in five provinces, as returns from displacement sites continue to accelerate across the country.
The families are returning to villages and towns in Idlib, Hama, Homs, Damascus Countryside and Aleppo provinces, according to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor.
The operation is being overseen by the Social Affairs and Labor Directorate in Idlib and supported by Idlib Governorate, in cooperation with the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR), Muzn Organization, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and the Emergency and Disaster Management Directorate.
The convoy comes amid a broader increase in returns from displacement sites. More than 1.38 million internally displaced people have left such sites across Syria since December 2024, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
OCHA said departures accelerated in July and August, when 38,836 people left displacement sites. Of those, about 19,600 received assistance through facilitated return mechanisms, while 130 displacement sites ceased operations during the two-month period. More than 60,000 internally displaced people have received support to return since the beginning of 2026.
The increase in returns is shifting humanitarian needs from camps to communities receiving returnees, where damaged housing, infrastructure and limited services can complicate sustainable reintegration, OCHA said.
Rehabilitation of water and electricity networks, hospitals, schools, roads, housing and other infrastructure is helping create conditions for returns and recovery, according to the U.N. agency.
The Syrian government has been advancing its “Syria Without Camps” initiative, which focuses on voluntary and sustainable returns to home communities.
R A H/ABD
