More than 410,00 Syrians who fled to Turkey during the rule of Bashar al-Assad have returned home since he was overthrown in December, the government announced Thursday.
Turkey’s interior ministry said 411,649 Syrians had returned home to date, although the rate has picked up in recent weeks, with the immigration service recording 140,000 returns since mid-June.
In June Filippo Grandi, head of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), said 600,000 Syrians had returned home from neighboring countries.
Syria has seen outbreaks of violence in recent weeks, testing the authorities’ ability to contain inter-religious strife after the fall of Assad.
Around 2.5 million Syrian refugees still live in Turkey, according to the latest figures, released in early August.
In 2021 Turkey said up to 3.7 million Syrians had taken refuge in the country.
© Agence France-Presse