Returning refugees find comfort in home amid destruction in southern Syria
Returning refugees find comfort in home amid destruction in southern Syria
Former refugees Ibtihal (centre), Abu Abbas (right) and Omar (left) outside their shell-damaged home in Dar'a governorate, southern Syria.
Sitting in the living room of their shell-damaged home in the southern Syrian town of Sheikh Miskeenin in Dar’a governorate, Ibtihal, 52, described the surge of emotion she felt three weeks ago when she and her husband finally crossed back into Syria after a dozen years living as refugees in Jordan.
“When I first arrived and stood at the border, I was overjoyed and moved, I started crying,” Ibtihal said. “I was so happy and excited to return … I hadn’t seen my country or my family for 12 years.”
Having been separated from her home and loved ones for so long, Ibtihal’s thoughts turned to some of the momentous events that had occurred during her long absence. “Imagine, my father passed away while I was there [in Jordan], and my nephew was killed by shelling.”
The couple’s emotional return soon switched to practical challenges as they discovered the harsh conditions now facing them and the wider country. Their home was partially destroyed by shelling during the conflict, and they arrived back to find blown-out doors and windows, a damaged roof and no electricity or running water. Even the flooring that Abu Abbas – a tiler – installed had been removed by looters.
“When I saw my home, it was in ruins,” Ibtihal said. “Life is truly painful – the basic necessities are missing. The sewage system is blocked, and I can’t manage even the simplest things. I don’t have the money to fix anything. My husband wants to work so we can rebuild our house slowly.”
“I was shocked by the state of the entire country,” she continued. “The way people are living is heartbreaking; they barely have the basics of life. God willing, it will be rebuilt someday. I have great faith in God that Syria will return to how it used to be; that it will be rebuilt.”
The couple based their decision to return not only on the fact that it had finally become possible following the overthrow of the Assad government but also because life in Jordan had become harder as her husband, Abu Abbas, struggled to find work. They are among more than 270,000 Syrian refugees who have so far returned to the country since the dramatic events of early December.
In the most recent survey of Syrian refugees across the region, 27 per cent of respondents told UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, that they intend to return home within the next 12 months – a sharp increase from only 1.7 per cent of respondents who said the same thing before the fall of the regime.
Despite a growing appetite for return, the survey results suggest that around three-quarters of Syrian refugees currently have no plans to go home in the next year and are waiting to see how the situation evolves. There are currently 5.5 million Syrian refugees living in Türkiye, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt.
Barriers to return
According to those surveyed, the factors preventing refugees from returning home now are a lack of housing or access to their properties, concern over the security situation, the disruption to basic services, and economic challenges including a lack of jobs.
These concerns are borne out by the immense needs now facing returning refugees, amid a wider humanitarian crisis gripping Syria after years of conflict and economic turmoil. With many homes damaged or destroyed and health care, water and electricity services disrupted, millions in the country are currently struggling to survive freezing winter temperatures.
Those who have returned say that humanitarian support and financial assistance are essential to help them reestablish their lives while they try to find a stable source of income.
UNHCR and its partners, mainly Syrian NGOs, are providing returnees and others in need with basic household items, repairs to damaged homes, emergency cash assistance, support to replace lost identity documents and psychological counselling, among other services.
But with the needs far outweighing available resources, UNHCR is urging the international community to scale-up their support. On 13 February, Paris will host a meeting of governments and donors to discuss the urgent need for international support to Syria in the post-Assad transition.
Locals shop at a street market in the southern Syrian city of Dar'a.
“When returnees come home, they often struggle to secure an income and therefore become overly dependent on humanitarian aid, and they don’t want that. They want to pay their own way. So it’s not only an economic issue but also a question of dignity,” said Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, UNHCR’s Representative in Syria.
“Without an injection of international support, in terms of more humanitarian aid and early recovery and reconstruction activities, refugee returnees won’t be able to rebuild their lives in Syria and many other refugees in the region and beyond won’t be able to return. The risk is that hope turns into disappointment and frustration, so we need to do much more – and quickly,” he added.
While Abu Abbas has found work in construction and has also begun repairs on their home, there are still hurdles for the family to overcome. Last year in Jordan, Ibtihal received treatment for cancer, but health services in the nearby city of Dar’a are hobbled by a lack of equipment, personnel and medicine.
Abu Abbas has begun repairs on his family's shell-damaged house.
“You need to go to Damascus, but the cost of travel is too high, and I simply can’t afford it,” she explained. “If you want to see a specialist doctor there, it costs 150,000 Syrian pounds (US$11.5) just for the consultation. I don’t have that kind of money.”
Access to education is also a major challenge for returning refugee children. Many schools are damaged, ill-equipped and suffering from staff shortages. The children themselves must adapt to a new curriculum on top of the upheaval of returning to a country that many have never even seen before.
Ibtihal and Abu Abbas’ youngest son, Omar, who is 14, was going to school in Jordan but has yet to enrol since his return to Syria. He is helping his father in his work as a tiler and planning to resume his studies in the next school year.
Ibtihal and her youngest son Omar, 14, sit in the living room of their damaged house in Sheikh Miskeen in Syria's Dar’a governorate.
Remaining hopeful
“The challenges here are many. We are in a community with huge needs … there is a lot of destruction,” explained Hiba Shannan, UNHCR Assistant Protection Officer in Dar’a. “People are returning to live in [homes] without roofs, without kitchens, without proper services, without proper infrastructure. We are here to respond and to provide services. We are trying to prioritize with the community what to respond to first.”
“However, there is [also] life,” Shannan added. “I see in the eyes of returnees that they are saying: we are finally at home, in our homeland. This provides them with hope they would never find anywhere else. They are willing to go to areas where services are missing because they feel they belong.”
This is the case for Ibtihal and Abu Abbas who, despite all the challenges, are happy to be home and looking positively to the future.
“We remain hopeful,” Ibtihal concluded. “God willing, we will live again with love and friendship, and life will return to how it was.”
