Syrian refugees face tough decision on returning home

DW (English)

Over 14 million Syrian refugees fled their homeland during the country's civil war. Since the collapse of Bashar al Assad's regime last year, over a million have started to return home. But for many Syrians living abroad it remains a difficult decision.

Transcript

00:00Amala and her children had a farm back in Syria.

00:04Now they harvest what they can from the rubbish.

00:07They start early and aim to find and sell 10 kilos of plastic and metal.

00:13That's enough to buy them food for the day.

00:16Here in Lebanon it's the only way for them to survive.

00:21Never in my life did I imagine I would end up here.

00:25One day I needed bread and we had nothing.

00:27I needed to feed my family but there was no food for me or the children.

00:31So I thought maybe I could go out and collect garbage.

00:34Amala lives with her eight children in a tent at the edge of a Gaza camp in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley.

00:41She left home in Syria more than 10 years ago to escape the Assad regime.

00:46She has not been back, not even now the Assad regime is gone.

00:50She says returning is not an option.

00:53This is our tent. We have drinking water.

00:57I can manage the children's needs and when I ask for help someone helps me.

01:00But over there, if I go back even though the regime is gone, my house is in ruins.

01:05The U.N. Refugee Agency has long been a lifeline for thousands of Syrian families like Omala is in Lebanon.

01:13But cuts in U.S. funding for the agency meant 65 percent of the families it helped now got nothing.

01:21So we are increasingly forced to tell Syrians who came 10, 12 years ago, sorry, we no longer have the money to give you the same assistance.

01:31Instead, UNHCR is now working with Lebanese authorities and offering small grants to those who choose to go back.

01:40There will be small cash grants to facilitate return.

01:44And then we hope to see much more assistance and better conditions inside Syria.

01:51During the six months leading up to May 2025, nearly 143,000 Syrian refugees left Lebanon to go home.

02:00And yet, in the same period, the UNHCR says around 100,000 new Syrian refugees have arrived,

02:09either fleeing because they were loyal to the toppled regime or to avoid deteriorating security conditions.

02:16And while some Lebanese view the refugee presence as a strain on the economy,

02:21others say the country still depends on them for manual labor.

02:26Maher Murad, a land owner in the Bekaa Valley, warned that he could lose up to 70 percent of his farm workers

02:34if all the Syrians were to return home.

02:37All the workers here are Syrian, not a single Lebanese.

02:42The problem is, if you do find a Lebanese worker, you'll have to pay a lot more, and honestly, it's nearly impossible.

02:49Most Lebanese have emigrated, and none of them know farming like the Syrians do.

02:55Inside Syria, there are signs of change.

02:58With sanctions lifted, reconstruction may begin.

03:02But some areas are over 70 percent destroyed, and for millions of displaced, going back means facing the unknown.

03:10The government is offering temporary solutions, but there is still no clear overall plan.

03:17Right now we can offer emergency solutions, like temporary shelters or mobile housing until we start the reconstruction.

03:26But rebuilding Syria isn't the government's job alone.

03:29We are the government, yes, but you are the people.

03:32This needs to be a joint effort.

03:36After more than a decade in Lebanon, Amala says her only barrier to going home is having nothing to return to.

03:46If I had enough money for the trip and a small room for me and my children, just enough to buy bread each day, I would have already left.

03:53At the last two weeks as I should do this, I will not continue standing here.

03:57Check this out.

03:58From bulletin Pan mathematics towards the table toigemary Chishina Al-S praising daycare Sunple e spiriti.

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