Return of Syrian refugees set to slow as donor support fades, UN agency says

More than 3 million Syrians have returned home since the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s rule a year ago but a decline in global funding could deter others, the UN’s refugee agency says.

Some 1.2 million refugees, in addition to 1.9 million internally displaced people, have gone back home following the civil war that began in 2011 and ended with Assad’s overthrow, but millions more are yet to return, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

The agency says much more support is needed to ensure the trend continues.

“Syrians are ready to rebuild – the question is whether the world is ready to help them do it,” says UNHCR head Filippo Grandi. Over 5 million refugees remain outside Syria’s borders, mostly in neighboring countries like Jordan and Lebanon.

Grandi told donors in Geneva last week that there was a risk that those Syrians who are returning might even reverse their course and come back to host states.

“Returns continue in fairly large numbers but unless we step up broader efforts, the risk of [reversals] is very real,” he said.

Overall, Syria’s $3.19 billion humanitarian response is 29 percent funded this year, according to UN data, at a time when donors like the United States and others are making major cuts to foreign aid across the board.

The World Health Organization sees a gap emerging as aid money drops off before national systems can take over.

The slow pace of removing unexploded ordnance is also a major obstacle to recovery, says the aid group Humanity & Inclusion, which reported over 1,500 deaths and injuries in the last year. Such efforts are just 13 percent funded, it said.