Nearly 200,000 Syrian refugees have returned to their homes since the fall of Bashar al-Assad.
Between the 8th of December and 16th of January, some 195,200 Syrians travelled back to their homeland, according to figures released by the UN refugee agency.
Last year, hundreds of thousands of Syrians returned home as they fled Lebanon, which was targeted by Israeli attacks during the conflict with the Hezbollah terrorist group.
A lightning offensive by Islamist rebels late last year toppled Assad from power, raising hopes of a final end to a 13-year civil war that has claimed more than half a million lives and driven millions to seek refuge abroad.
Turkey, which has a 900-kilometre border with Syria, has hosted some 2.9 million Syrians who have fled since 2011.
Turkish authorities, who hope many of those refugees will return to ease growing anti-Syrian sentiment among the population, are allowing one member of each refugee family to make three round trips by July 1, 2025, to prepare for the resettlement of their relatives. | BGNES, AFP