“We did not fear death but the life there”: The Dire Human Rights Situation Facing Syrian Returnees

The right of refugees to return to their country of origin is a fundamental right, and it should be exercisable freely and voluntarily and at a time of their choosing, security conditions enabling. Ensuring that those who return can do so in safe, dignified, and sustainable conditions is essential to ensure protection of their human rights, including protection from refoulement. Given the testimonies of returnees and former returnees, the information collected and analysed on this subject as well as the findings of the regular monitoring of the human rights situation inside Syria conducted by the OHCHR Syria Office, there are reasonable grounds to believe that the overall conditions in Syria still do not permit safe, dignified and sustainable returns of Syrian refugees to their home country. As a result, any envisaged return, should be voluntary and based on case-by-case assessment of the conditions for a safe, dignified and sustainable return.

This report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) describes patterns of human rights violations and abuses as well as violations of international humanitarian law that Syrians have been facing following their return to the Syrian Arab Republic (Syria) after they had previously fled the country. The report analyses the conditions that Syrian returnees (particularly those returning from neighbouring countries) experience once back to their original areas or other hosting communities inside Syria, with an emphasis on the human rights violations and abuses, as well as the challenges, that confront Syrian women.