About 1,700 refugees return to Syria daily, Turkish Interior Ministry says

According to the Turkish Interior Minister, since the fall of Assad, nearly 35,100 Syrians have returned to their homeland over the past three weeks, with an average of nearly 1,700 returning each day.

Tuesday December 31 2024 01:43 am

Duvar English

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced on Dec. 30 that, following the collapse of the Ba'ath regime, an average of 1,672 Syrians have been voluntarily returning to Syria each day from Turkey during the period from Dec. 9 to Dec. 29.

Over the past 21 days since the regime's fall, this number has reached 35,114.

In a live broadcast on NTV, Minister Yerlikaya stated that there are 4.16 million foreigners in Turkey with legal residence permits, 2.9 million of whom are Syrians. “In total, 775,117 Syrians have voluntarily returned (in the past). What previously took three months now occurred in just 21 days,” he said.

The minister stated that the returns were predominantly to Aleppo.

“Of the 2.9 million Syrians in Turkey, 30%, or 805,000, are children born here. These children were not granted Turkish citizenship. Those born in Turkey do not have Turkish citizenship; they have temporary protection status. This status ends as soon as they cross the border," Yerlikaya added.

The minister announced that a migrant office would be opened in Damascus, and that every kind of training assistance would be provided to institutions in Damascus. He also added, "Towards summer, as schools go on holiday, the number of returns will increase."

The Turkish minister underscored, "Combating irregular migration is an activity that consumes a lot of our energy. We have achieved great successes against human trafficking, arresting 7,626 individuals and seizing 8,431 vehicles. As a result of our efforts, we are no longer a target country for migration.”