Arab News | Syria aims to eliminate need for camps before displaced people return home: Minister

NEW YORK: The government of the Syrian Arab Republic aims to eliminate the need for camps and ensure displaced families can return home with dignity, the emergency and disaster management minister said on Wednesday.

“Our goal is not to eliminate the camps, but to eliminate the need for them,” Raed Al-Saleh added. “The vision of a camp-free Syria or zero tents doesn’t mean asking families to leave their tents for destroyed homes or villages lacking water, schools, health centers and job opportunities.”

He addressed a high-level meeting organized by the Syrian permanent mission on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, discussing a plan to facilitate displaced Syrians’ voluntary return to rebuilt homes and neighborhoods.

Nearly 141,000 Syrian families remain displaced in camps across the country almost two years after the fall of the Assad regime. The majority of them are in Idlib, which has 786 camps, and Aleppo with 391.

Al-Saleh experienced displacement himself during the country’s 13-year civil war and lived in camps in Idlib. He is the former director of the White Helmets, also known as the Syrian Civil Defense.

“The return of displaced persons does not only mean moving them from tents to their villages, but also enabling them to live in a place that provides dignity and stability,” he said.

Camps provided a temporary solution during the country’s civil war, but before closing them, displaced Syrians should be offered a safe return to their homes, he added.

The government has launched a campaign to remove landmines and unexploded ordnance, clear rubble, reopen roads, and restore essential services such as education, health, electricity and water to several regions in the country.

“We aren’t just talking about rebuilding buildings, but about restoring the ability to live,” Al-Saleh said. “What’s required of the international community isn’t funding the closure of the camps, but rather helping to create the conditions that would allow Syrians to leave them.”

In June, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees reported that around 1.3 million people returned to Syria from abroad in 2025, marking one of the largest refugee return movements in the world that year.

The civil war, which lasted from 2011 to 2024, displaced 12 million people, with at least 5 million becoming refugees in neighboring countries.