The United Nations on January 3 warned that the humanitarian aid crisis in Syria is worsening as thousands of Syrian refugees begin returning home amid rising regional instability.
Speaking at a press conference in Geneva, a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said funding for relief operations in Syria is critically depleted. Only about 27% of the total $4 billion needed for 2024 has been raised so far.
Meanwhile, over 7 million Syrians remain internally displaced, and approximately 6.8 million others are living as refugees in neighboring countries. The number of people requiring humanitarian assistance has risen to more than 16 million, the highest level since the conflict erupted in 2011.
Samer AbdelJaber, Country Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) in Syria, emphasized the especially severe situation in areas like Idlib and Aleppo, where millions of people depend entirely on food aid. The WFP has been forced to cut rations for 80% of recipients.
The wave of refugee returns is increasing, with more than 200,000 people returning to Syria from Lebanon and Jordan in the last two months of 2023, according to data from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). However, many of them face dire living conditions, lacking housing, clean water, and health services.
Syrian authorities say they are working to rebuild infrastructure to welcome returnees, but international sanctions and budget shortfalls are hindering the process.
