Around 1 million Syrian refugees may return in first half of 2025: UNHCR

GENEVA, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) Director for the Middle East and North Africa Rema Jamous Imseis said on Tuesday that around 1 million Syrian refugees may return to their homeland between January and June 2025.

"We have forecasted that we hope to see somewhere in the order of one million Syrians returning between January and June of next year," said Imseis during a press conference in Geneva

She described the recent developments as bringing "a tremendous amount of hope" for resolving the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Syria. However, she emphasized that regime change does not necessarily mean the end of the ongoing crisis, highlighting the immense challenges ahead.

Imseis urged countries hosting Syrian refugees not to rush sending them back, and stressed that Syrians should maintain their right to seek asylum.

Imseis pointed out that, despite the returns, over 1 million people have been newly displaced within Syria in the past three weeks, most of them women and children.

She noted that it is still too early to determine whether it is safe for people to return to Syria, and called on refugees and other concerned individuals to have more time to evaluate the safety of returning. ■