The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has reported that 2,582 Syrian refugees have voluntarily left Jordan to return to their homeland within the first seven months of this year. According to the UN agency’s data, a total of 20,061 Syrian refugees have made their way back to Syria from various host countries, including Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, and Iraq, in 2023 alone.
Notably, the year 2022 saw 50,966 Syrian refugees return to their country from host nations, compared to 35,624 in 2021, 38,235 in 2020, and 94,971 in 2019. Earlier this week, Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi stressed the necessity of taking immediate and practical steps to create conducive conditions for the voluntary return of Syrian refugees. Safadi urged relevant UN organizations to expedite these steps, asserting that the future of Syrian refugees lies in Syria, not Jordan.
During a meeting with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, Safadi emphasized the importance of ongoing collaboration with the Syrian government and the international community to establish a comprehensive plan to facilitate and encourage the voluntary repatriation of refugees.
It is noteworthy that Jordan has been host to more than 1.3 million Syrian refugees since the onset of the Syrian crisis in 2011. As of August 16, 2023, approximately 655,000 of these refugees are registered with UNHCR. The country has been a pivotal player in managing the refugee crisis, providing not just immediate shelter but also various services including education and healthcare. This new wave of voluntary returns may signal a slowly changing tide in the protracted Syrian refugee crisis, which has been one of the most significant humanitarian challenges of the 21st century. This phenomenon indicates a possible shift in the geopolitical landscape, where stability in Syria could lead to sustainable repatriation plans, thereby easing the burden on host countries like Jordan.
