LONDON: More than 100 displaced families left camps in northern Syria on Sunday to return to their hometowns in Hama province as part of the interim government’s Syria Without Camps initiative to end internal displacement.
The convoy transported 106 families to the town of Kafr Zeita in northern Hama countryside under the voluntary return program, state news agency SANA reported.
It was organized by authorities in the Idlib and Hama governorates, and supervised by the Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management in coordination with local social affairs directorates, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and humanitarian organizations.
Sunday’s movement follows a July 21 convoy that took 314 families from camps in northern Syria back to homes in southern Idlib countryside and Hama province under the same initiative.
On that day, the Syrian government said it was advancing Syria Without Camps through a coordinated plan to end displacement by restoring infrastructure, supporting voluntary returns and strengthening cooperation with international partners.
The initiative is overseen by a national committee comprising ministers, governors and relevant government bodies to coordinate implementation.
Under the plan, authorities aim to phase out the use of tents this year and secure sustainable solutions for all displacement camps by 2027.
To support those goals, officials say cooperation with international financial institutions has expanded.
The World Bank has approved funding for two new projects as part of a broader portfolio, and the government is in talks with the Saudi Fund for Development to finalize the transfer of a $1.5 billion grant for Syria Without Camps, according to Syrian media.
Alongside the returns, the government is building a national displacement database and conducting a comprehensive survey of camps. An assessment in Idlib recorded 736 camps hosting about 91,000 families.
Authorities say 1,081 families have already returned under the initiative, while another 1,150 have registered their intention to do so, as transportation and logistical support continues.
Syria’s civil war, which erupted in March 2011, forced more than 13 million people across the country from their homes, including more than 6 million refugees outside Syria and over 7 million people displaced inside the country at various points.
Since the fall of the Assad regime in a rebel offensive in late 2024, more than 3.5 million Syrians have returned, according to UN figures.
Yet aid groups say the pace of return far exceeds the pace of recovery. The International Rescue Committee said in early July that 91 percent of returnees arrive to find essential services missing, and 71 percent now live in damaged housing.
The organization said the single greatest barrier to reintegration was not social division but insufficient services for all community members, highlighting the gap between the scale of return and the scale of investment.
