UN: 400,000 Syrian Refugees in Lebanon Expected to Return Home by Year-End

The number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon returning to their homeland is projected to reach 400,000 by the end of this year, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced on Thursday.

According to the agency, around 300,000 Syrians have already repatriated since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024.

Lisa Abu Khaled, spokesperson for the UNHCR, said an additional 180,000 refugees have expressed willingness to return under a UN repatriation program launched in July.

On Thursday, Abu Khaled, alongside officials from Lebanon’s General Security and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), accompanied 163 Syrian refugees in the fourth convoy organized under the initiative as they crossed the border north of Tripoli.

The returning refugees, headed for Idlib and Homs, were exempted from border fees on the Lebanese side — a move that underscores Lebanon’s commitment to ensuring a safe and dignified return, according to the National News Agency (NNA).

The Lebanese Red Cross and other humanitarian groups are supporting the government in facilitating the process.

Lebanon has hosted an estimated 2.1 million Syrian refugees since the start of Syria’s civil war in March 2011, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Social Affairs.