Damascus -

Since the start of the Syrian revolution 11 years ago, the world is still witnessing the largest wave of refugee and human displacement in contemporary history after the Second World War (1939-1945).

United Nations organizations estimate the number of Syrians displaced in their homeland at about 6.9 million, compared to about 5.5 million refugees who fled to neighboring countries and Europe.

In this report, we learn about the map of the spread of Syrian refugees and displaced persons inside their country and around the world, and the main challenges they face.

A displaced Syrian girl stands in front of her family's tent covered in snow in Azaz camp in Aleppo Governorate (Anatolia)

Displaced people inside Syria

About 7 million displaced people are distributed over 3 main areas in Syria, namely the north-east, north and north-west, and the regime-controlled areas in the center and south of the country.

The number of displaced people in northern and northwestern Syria is estimated at 2.8 million, 80% of whom are women and children, and 46,000 of them have special needs.

According to the latest statistics of the "Syria Response Coordinators" team, the number of camp residents in the north of the country reached about one million and 44 thousand displaced people, living in 1293 camps, including 282 random camps that do not receive any support or international humanitarian assistance.

Sheikhmus Ahmed, head of the Office of Organizations and Humanitarian Affairs in the areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces, revealed that the number of displaced people in northeastern Syria has reached one million and 25 thousand.

Ahmed indicated that about 900,000 displaced people live in homes or schools, and 125,000 displaced people are in camps.

The number of camps in northeastern Syria is 15, 6 of which are in Al-Hasakah, which hosts the largest number of displaced people, namely the camps of Al-Hol, Al-Aresha, Roj, Nowruz, Serê Kaniyê, and Washou Kani.

While there are 5 camps in northern Aleppo, which are Barkhdan, Sardam, Al-Awda, Afrin and Al-Shahba.


Harsh conditions

The camp residents live in harsh winter conditions, coinciding with the snowfall, which causes additional difficulties in light of the lack of fuel, electricity or alternative heating methods, and led to the closure of the roads through which humanitarian aid arrives.

A study conducted by the "Syrian Civil Defense" organization - which included 192 camps last January - revealed that this year's winter caused damage to 160 camps, at a rate of 83%, while the proportion of humanitarian response operations did not exceed 40% of the camps covered by the study.

According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, 167 people have died due to the cold since 2011, including 77 children.

The situation of the displaced in northeastern Syria does not seem better, as Mark Keats, Deputy Regional Coordinator for Syria at the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs, expressed his concern about the escalating hostilities in the city of Hasaka since last January, which led to the displacement of about 45 Alpha from their homes to other places.

While the United Nations renewed, this March, its appeals to the heads of 57 countries around the world to return their foreign nationals from the al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria, many of whom are families of foreign members of former ISIS fighters.

Sources indicate that 65,000 people, mostly women and children, are being held there in inhumane conditions.

Although there are no accurate statistics for the distribution of the displaced in the regime-controlled areas, estimates indicate that Latakia is at the forefront of the governorates receiving the displaced, followed by Tartous, then Aleppo, then Damascus countryside, then As-Suwayda, and then Damascus.

The displaced people in the regime-controlled areas suffer from the poor living conditions, in light of the decline in the exchange rate of the Syrian pound against foreign currencies, and electricity cuts from 18 to 20 hours a day, in addition to the high rent of residential apartments, and the lack of job opportunities.

The United Nations estimated that 90% of the population in Syria lives below the poverty line, and 70% of them face severe food shortages.

An elderly Syrian refugee with his grandson in the Zaatari camp for Syrian refugees in Jordan (Reuters)

In the neighboring countries of Syria

Turkey topped the list of countries hosting Syrian refugees around the world for 2022, with an estimated number of 3 million and 741 thousand, most of whom live in the cities of Istanbul, Gaziantep and Hatay, according to the latest statistics of the General Directorate of the Turkish Immigration Presidency.

Although more than 193,000 Syrians obtained Turkish citizenship by the end of last year, many obstacles still face Syrian refugees in this country;

Most notably, the low wages, and the problems of integrating Syrian students into government education.

Lebanon ranks second in the list of countries hosting Syrian refugees, as the United Nations stated - in a recent report - that nearly 900,000 "registered" Syrian refugees live in Lebanese territory until 2022. While the Lebanese government estimated that there are another 500,000 residing illegally.

According to the report, 90% of Syrian families in Lebanon live in extreme poverty in light of the economic collapse and severe economic crisis that the country is going through, and the failure to provide them with a safe return.

Jordan comes third with 673,000 registered Syrian refugees, 19.5% of whom are settled in camps, most notably Zaatari and Azraq, and the rest are distributed in the governorates of Amman, Irbid and Mafraq.

80% of Syrian refugees in Jordan live below the poverty line, while 60% of Syrian families there are in extreme poverty.

Iraq ranks fourth among the neighboring countries hosting the Syrians, with 346,000 Syrian refugees living in it, followed by Egypt and Sudan.


in European countries

The Syrian refugee crisis reached its climax in 2015, and Germany was at the forefront of countries that received Syrians fleeing the war, while more than a million Syrian refugees fled to Europe, 59% of whom went to Germany.

Currently, their total number in this country is 787,000.

Sweden ranks second in Europe by receiving more than 114,000 Syrian refugees, followed by the Netherlands with more than 74,000, Denmark with more than 17,000, Greece with 38,000, France with 23,000, Switzerland with 7,000, Belgium with 4,000 and Italy 4,000. And Romania with more than 3,000, Spain with 2352, Ireland with 1729, Poland with 1069, and Luxembourg with 663.

The Archive of Public Health reported that a large number of Syrian refugees in Germany live in poor conditions, due to social and economic factors, such as housing, duration of asylum, and marital status.

As for the mental health of Syrian refugees, the Frontiers in psychiatry group, which specializes in psychological research, stated that the largest percentage of them in Germany and other European countries suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety resulting from what they experienced in their country during the period of time. The war and their separation from their families.

In addition to psychological disorders and integration difficulties, Syrians face fears of another kind.

Denmark was the first European country to tell Syrian refugees on its soil in late 2021 that the time for their return to their country has come, after it stripped about 100,000 of their residencies and sent them to deportation camps last year.

Amnesty International's Director of Refugee and Migrant Rights, Steve Symonds, described Denmark's policies as an appalling affront to people's right to be safe, and accused it of forcing people to return to "the hands of a brutal regime", noting that this violation may constitute an incentive for other countries to abandon their obligations. towards the Syrians.