212 families leave northern Syria camps in voluntary return convoy
A convoy carrying 212 displaced families left camps in northern Syria on Thursday for their home communities across five provinces, as government-backed voluntary returns continue.
The families are returning to villages and towns in the countryside of Idlib, Hama, Homs, Aleppo and Hasakah.
The convoy was organized by Idlib Governorate and the Directorate of Social Affairs and Labor in coordination with the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR), Muzn Organization, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and the Emergency and Disaster Management Directorate.
Mohammad Bakir, director of the northern department at the Directorate of Social Affairs and Labor in Idlib, told SANA that the returns were being organized under Presidential Decree No. 59 and the “Zero Tents 2026” initiative.
Bakir said four more convoys were being prepared for next week and registration remained open. About 170,000 families have returned since the liberation, he added.
Support for returnees
Manaf Hammam, a UNHCR official responsible for camp coordination and management in Aleppo and Idlib, said the agency was working with relevant authorities to facilitate voluntary returns and assist families moving back to their areas of origin.
Support includes transportation, food and relief assistance, as well as connecting returnees with UNHCR offices in other provinces to help them access available services and programs, Hammam said.
Families head home after years of displacement
Among those returning was Abdul Karim Hassan al-Aliwi of Qastoun village in northern Hama countryside, who said he had lived in displacement camps since 2013 amid limited services.
Al-Aliwi said he hoped families would receive the support they need after returning, adding that nothing compared with going back to his village.
Fatima al-Mustafa, from Hama countryside, said she was returning to her town after 14 years of displacement, while Talaat Harb, from Homs countryside, said she was heading home after more than 11 years in camps.
The latest convoy follows the departure on Sunday of 263 families from camps in Idlib and Aleppo for communities in southern Idlib countryside and areas of Hama, Aleppo and Damascus.
