1.4.4. Displacement and return

IOM’s first population movements assessment after the power transition in December 2024 showed that, as of February 2025, 27 % of Syria’s population (around 7 million out of a total population of approximately 26.05 million) were IDPs.425 In subsequent months, the share of IDPs gradually decreased426 and was estimated at 22 % at the beginning of the current reference period (October 2025)427 and at 21 % in April 2026 (around 5.86 million out of a total population of approximately 27.90 million).428 Conversely, the population share of IDP returnees, estimated at 4 % of the country’s population in February 2025 (around 1.04 million out of a total population of approximately 26.05 million),429 gradually increased to reach 7 % in July 2025430 and remained at this level through April 2026 (around 1.95 million out of a total population of 27.90 million).431

At the same time, safe returns to areas of origin were impeded by lack of clearance of landmines and unexploded ordnance,432 while several instances of new displacements occurred since December 2024 as retaliatory violence, often sectarian in nature, in governorates such as Latakia, Tartous, Homs, Hama and Sweida left entire families and villages displaced. For instance, in the context of the intense hostilities in Sweida in July 2025, almost all Bedouins were forcibly displaced from the governorate, with Druze armed militia preventing their return as of early 2026.433 In the current reference period, clashes in Aleppo City’s Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighbourhoods in late December 2025,434 and especially their escalation in January 2026 prompted large-scale displacement.435 According to UNOCHA, an estimated 148 000 residents were displaced between 6 and 10 January and predominantly relocated to Afrin district.436

As of 21 May 2026, UNHCR estimated that, since December 2024, approximately 1.91 million individuals had returned from internal displacement437 and around 1.65 million had returned from abroad.438 Many of the returnees from abroad headed to Damascus, Rural Damascus, Dar’a and Aleppo governorates, citing recent political developments, improved security, and family reunification as reasons for return.439

Map 3. © UNHCR, Locations of 1 912,192 IDP returnees by governorate 21 May 2026440