Syrian Refugees Struggle Deepens as Fighting Escalates

As the Syrian Arab Republic’s crisis enters its fourteenth year 16.7 million people require protection and humanitarian aid and more people than ever before are falling into even worse poverty. 

With an estimated 7.2 million internally displaced people (IDPs) and 6.2 million refugees by 2025 mostly housed in neighboring Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon. and Turkey. The Syrian crisis continues to rank among the world’s most severe displacement disasters. 

The UNHCR will provide fundamental relief supplies, financial support, legal aid and a variety of protection services to communities that have been forcefully displaced. 

Due to the lack of certainty around a peaceful resolution to the crisis, the escalating hostilities in the region, the scarcity of money and the decline in humanitarian and resilience assistance, the situation of Syrian refugees in host countries is extremely worrisome. 

One of the primary issues refugees deal with on a daily basis is the lack of work and prospects for a living. Social tensions have increased and the protection environment for Syrian refugees has deteriorated due to restrictive host nation practices and regulations. 

Given that many Syrian refugees are expected to stay in the region for the medium term, it will continue to be crucial to provide aid to them in their host nations. Throughout 2025 spontaneous returns to Syria are anticipated to persist. 

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The UNHCR confirmed that more than 34,000 Syrian refugees have returned in the first eight months of 2024, however the real number may be much higher. As of October 28, 2024 an estimated 320,000 Syrian refugees had returned to Syria under unfavorable conditions as a result of the Lebanon conflict and the inflow that followed in late September 2024.

It’s unclear how many of those Syrian refugee returnees will stay in Syria, want to go back to Lebanon or continue on to other places given how unstable the situation is. The major barrier of returning to Syria is still worries about safety and security but refugee’s decisions are increasingly being influenced by their lack of means of subsistence.

Nearly 933,000 Syrians are expected to require relocation making them the group of refugees with the greatest demand for resettlement worldwide. Prior to the conflict’s escalation in September 2024 Lebanon had the highest needs for resettlement with a noteworthy increase of 200,000 individuals from 2024 as a result of worsening economic conditions and increased protection concerns such child labor exploitation and deportation.    

It is anticipated that 17.1 million people are in need and 11.9 million individuals in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt will be the recipients of help which will cost about $5 billion. It will also include refugees who are returning to Syria under unfavorable conditions. The plan places a strong emphasis on building resilience, strengthening national institutions and making sure that no one is left behind in a world characterized by growing demands.