More than 50,000 Syrian refugees have returned to Syria from Turkey in the past month following the fall of Bashar al-Assad, according to Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya. He reported that 52,622 Syrians had gone back to their home country, with over 20,000 more returning since his last update on December 27, when the number stood at 30,663.
Out of those returning, 41,437 traveled with family members, while 11,185 returned individually. Turkey currently hosts nearly 3 million refugees who fled Syria after the outbreak of the civil war in 2011. Amid rising anti-Syrian sentiment within Turkey, the government is eager to see as many refugees as possible return to their homeland.
With a 900-kilometer border and six operational crossings between Turkey and Syria, the Turkish government has reopened one crossing in the past month to assist in the refugees’ return. Additionally, a “migration management” office is set to open in Aleppo, Syria, which is home to around 42% of the Syrian refugees residing in Turkey.
