Displaced Syrians leave Al-Arisha Camp in northeastern Syria on Feb. 11, 2025. The Al-Arisha refugee camp in northeastern Syria on Tuesday recorded the first large-scale voluntary repatriation of displaced Syrians, which involved 305 people from 58 families, an official at the camp told Xinhua. (Str/Xinhua)
AL-ARISHA CAMP, Syria, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Al-Arisha refugee camp in northeastern Syria on Tuesday recorded the first large-scale voluntary repatriation of displaced Syrians, which involved 305 people from 58 families, an official at the camp told Xinhua.
Salwa Ahmad Hajo, an administrator at the camp, said there will be more planned returns of displaced Syrians in the coming weeks.
Hajo attributed the voluntary returns to Syria's political changes, deteriorating living conditions in the camp, and the "dwindling capacity of aid organizations."
Many humanitarian services have been reduced or halted, further compounding the hardship in the camp and prompting people to return to uncertain and dangerous conditions in their hometowns filled with destroyed houses, unexploded landmines, and a lack of basic infrastructure, Hajo noted.
According to media reports, the Al-Arisha refugee camp, some 25 km south of the city of Hasaka, is one of the largest camps in the region, housing nearly 14,000 people in about 2,700 families. However, there are currently only five international aid organizations operating in the camp alongside a few local charities, as the rest have left amid funding shortages. ■
Displaced Syrians prepare to leave Al-Arisha Camp in northeastern Syria on Feb. 11, 2025.
The Al-Arisha refugee camp in northeastern Syria on Tuesday recorded the first large-scale voluntary repatriation of displaced Syrians, which involved 305 people from 58 families, an official at the camp told Xinhua. (Str/Xinhua)
