One Year After Regime Shift, Syria’s Returnees Face Ruins, Hunger, and Deadly Contamination

SYRIA — As Syria approaches the first anniversary of the Al-Assad regime change on December 8, more than one million people have returned to their homes after spending years living in displaced camps or abroad. They found destroyed villages, poverty, and extensive contamination by explosive remnants that made life miserable. HI has been involved in risk awareness for the last ten years and in clearance operations since 2019.  

Syria Devastated by 13 Years of War 

Since the change of regime on December 8, 2024, Syria has been struggling to restore normal living conditions. The population has fallen into deeper poverty, while essential services such as healthcare, food, and shelter struggle to be restored. Over nine million people are acutely food insecure (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs-OCHA).  

Overall, more than 70% of the population needs humanitarian assistance.  

People are coming back to their homes, but there is nothing to support everyday life. Buildings and houses are destroyed, and there is nothing to rebuild with. Services like health and education have not restarted. There are no fruit and vegetable markets, and no company jobs to help revive the local economy. People are lacking everything and feel completely alone. Humanitarian needs are enormous.

Ramziyah Albitar, HI Mental Health Technical Officer, states, “People are gradually returning to neighborhoods in Syria that have been heavily damaged or partially restored. Essential services such as schools and health centers remain limited, and markets offer few goods at high prices.” Albitar continues, “There are few livelihood opportunities, leaving families with little income to rebuild their lives. Children are out of school, caregivers lack basic resources, and many returnees are experiencing significant stress and trauma, with limited access to mental health and psychosocial support.”  

 Contamination Is Everywhere 

People who had fled internally or abroad — mainly to Jordan, Türkiye, Lebanon, and Iraq- are now returning home. However, many remain in displacement camps because conditions in their areas of origin cannot support their return. Everything is destroyed, there are no basic services, and the local economy struggles to resume. 

For those who do return, the risks are deadly. Contamination by explosive remnants of war and landmines makes everyday life extremely dangerous, especially for children.  

Between December 8, 2024, and November 21, 2025, a total of 849 explosive ordnance-related accidents were recorded, resulting in 1,568 casualties (581 people killed; 987 injured). Of these incidents, 522 took place in agricultural land or grazing areas, underscoring the devastating impact on access to livelihoods and food security. The governorates most affected are Deir ez-Zor, Aleppo, and Idlib. 

Danila Zizi, HI’s Syria Program Director, states, “The contamination of the country is huge and very diverse: in one year, over 1,500 people were killed or injured by landmines, explosive remnants, or booby traps. A third were children. Our clearance team finds dangerous items every day; they are everywhere. Clearance is the top priority to enable the population to resume their lives. But risk-education sessions are also essential as most of the population is unaware of the danger.”   

One of the population’s greatest needs is clearance, as the country is heavily contaminated after more than 13 years of bombings, airstrikes, and the extensive use of booby traps and landmines. 

In 2025, HI reached 65,900 risk education beneficiaries in Syria through 7,710 sessions, while clearance activities, which began in 2019, are today carried out by a team of 18 HI deminers in Northeast Syria. In 2025, HI teams identified nine new hazardous areas, totaling 300,000 m², and 600 explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) spot tasks across 46 surveyed communities. In total, over 14,200 explosive items were safely removed and destroyed, and 650,000 m² of land were cleared, directly benefiting 31,500 people. 

HI started conducting operations inside Syria in November 2012, before extending its operations to include Syrian refugees in Iraqi Kurdistan in the summer of 2014. 

Spokespersons are available for interviews upon media request.