IOM’s first population movements assessment after the Damascus power shift showed that, as of February 2025, 7 % of Hama governorate’s population (around 119 300 out of a total population of approximately 1.70 million), were IDPs.637 Subsequent population movement assessments indicated a stable IDP share of 7 %,638 and, from July 2025 onwards, 6 %,639 continuing through April 2026, when a total of around 120 200 IDPs (out of a total population of approximately 2 million) was recorded.640
In contrast, the population share of IDP returnees increased constantly since February 2025 and through the reporting period, starting at 9 % (around 153 400 out of a total of approximately 1.70 million) as of February 2025, and increasing to 16 % (around 309 900 out of a total population of approximately 1.9 million) as of October 2025 further to 18 % (around 360 000 out of a total population of approximately 2 million) as of April 2026.641 UNHCR estimated that, as of 21 May 2026, around 356 000 individuals had returned to Hama governorate from internal displacement since December 2024642 and approximately 166 000 had returned from abroad within the same period.643 According to IOMs ‘Communities of Return Index’, overall return conditions were assessed to be ‘partially conducive’ in all five of Hama governorate’s districts in the period between 1 January and 4 February 2026.644 Assessing returnee communities across Syria between 1 January and 4 February 2026, IOM found that waste management services were particularly poor in Hama, where 66 % of assessed communities reported having none.645 Based on durable solutions criteria, Hama governorate was assessed as ‘mostly conducive’ with regard to safety and security. Hama scored worst in terms of access to livelihoods, which was assessed as ‘partially conducive’.646
- 637
IOM, Syrian Arab Republic – Community Baseline Assessment – Round 1 – February 2025, 6 March 2025, url, p. 7
- 638
IOM, Syrian Arab Republic – Population Mobility and Baseline Assessment – Round 3 – April 2025, 10 May 2025, url, p. 8; IOM, Syrian Arab Republic – Population Mobility and Baseline Assessment – Round 5 – June 2025, 7 July 2025, url, p. 8
- 639
IOM, Syrian Arab Republic – Population Mobility and Baseline Assessment – Round 6 – July 2025, 18 August 2025, url, p. 8; IOM, Syrian Arab Republic – Population Mobility and Baseline Assessment – Round 9 – October 2025, 10 November 2025, url, p. 8; IOM, Syrian Arab Republic – Population Mobility and Baseline Assessment – Round 12 – January 2026, 12 February 2026, url, p. 7
- 640
IOM, Syrian Arab Republic – Population Mobility and Baseline Assessment – Round 15 – April 2026, 18 May 2026, url, p. 7
- 641
IOM, Syrian Arab Republic – Community Baseline Assessment – Round 1 – February 2025, 6 March 2025, url, p. 7; IOM, Syrian Arab Republic – Population Mobility and Baseline Assessment – Round 9 – October 2025, 10 November 2025, url, p. 8; IOM, Syrian Arab Republic – Population Mobility and Baseline Assessment – Round 15 – April 2026, 18 May 2026, url, p. 7
- 642
UNHCR, Syrian Arab Republic: Comprehensive Overview of IDPs and IDP Returns Dashboard [Map], 21 May 2026, url
- 643
UNHCR, Syrian Arab Republic: Comprehensive Overview of Refugee Returns Dashboard [Map], 21 May 2026, url
- 644
IOM, Syrian Arab Republic, Communities of Return Index, January 2026 – Round 4, 2 April 2026, url, p. 22
- 645
IOM, Syrian Arab Republic, Communities of Return Index, January 2026 – Round 4, 2 April 2026, url, pp. 9, 20; Data for IOM’s ‘Communities of Return Index’ was collected between 1 January and 4 February 2026 in more than 3 000 locations across Syria. IOM, Syrian Arab Republic, Communities of Return Index, January 2026 – Round 4, 2 April 2026, url, pp. 20
- 646
IOM, Syrian Arab Republic, Communities of Return Index, January 2026 – Round 4, 2 April 2026, url, p. 21