5.6. Displacement and return

Around 1 343 232 IDPs were estimated by UNHCR to have returned between 27 November 2024 and 12 June 2025, with 533 372 departing from IDP sites since 8 December 2024.844 Most IDPs returned to Aleppo, Hama, Idlib and Homs governorates. There were still 7.4 million persons estimated to remain in displacement in Syria,845 69 % of them living in host communities and the rest in IDP camps.846

Hostilities in Latakia, Tartous, Homs and Hama governorates which took place in early March initially led to the displacement of around 51 000 people, including 6 000 who fled to Lebanon. Widespread curfews and movement restrictions were imposed, including the closure of the Homs – Latakia highway, leading to the suspension of humanitarian operations.847 According to UNICEF, most IDPs have since returned, although around 2 500 were estimated to remain at the Russian Hmeimim airbase in Tartous governorate.848 According to UNHCR reporting in late May, people continued to flee from the aforementioned governorates to the North and Akkar governorates of Lebanon, reaching around 40 000 in total.849

The clashes between pro-government armed groups and Druze armed groups in late April and early May led to the displacement of 15 000 people from Rural Damascus.850 As of 22 May 2025, UNCHR citing Lebanese authorities reported that 977 Syrians, most of them Druze, crossed into Lebanon since 2 May.851