On Sunday morning, millions of Syrians, both within the country and abroad, woke up to a changed nation after opposition forces swept into Damascus, bringing an end to President Bashar al-Assad’s 24-year rule.

The fall of Damascus comes after a 13-year war, during which millions of Syrians were forcibly displaced within the country or driven across its borders in search of a chance to rebuild their lives.

More than 13 million Syrians displaced

In 2011, at the start of popular uprisings against al-Assad, Syria’s population was approximately 21 million.

In the years that followed, nearly half a million people were killed, more than a million injured and about 13 million fled their homes.

As of 2024, the United Nations reports, at least 7.4 million Syrians remain internally displaced, with approximately 4.9 million seeking refuge in neighbouring countries. An additional 1.3 million have resettled elsewhere, mostly in Europe.

The neighbouring countries with the most registered Syrian refugees include Turkiye, Lebanon, Jordan and Iran.

Which countries host the most Syrian refugees?

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About half of Syria’s registered refugees, or 3.1 million, live in Turkiye, which hosts the largest refugee population in the world. The Turkish government grants Syrians Temporary Protected Status (TPS), allowing them to stay legally, though it does not provide a track to citizenship.

Lebanon is the second-largest host of Syrian refugees with about 774,000 registered people. Including unregistered individuals, the total rises to an estimated 1.5 million. This makes Lebanon the country with the highest concentration of Syrian refugees relative to its population, with one in five people being a Syrian refugee.

Germany hosts the third-largest number of Syrian refugees – about 716,000 – according to the UN. Following the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad, Germany’s Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community announced a suspension of decisions on asylum applications from Syrian citizens. The decision affects more than 47,770 asylum applications, according to a spokesperson for the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF).

The countries with the most registered Syrian refugees are:

Turkiye: 3,112,683
Lebanon: 774,697
Germany: 716,728
Iraq: 286,099
Egypt: 156,465
Austria: 97,939
Sweden: 86,956
Netherlands: 65,622
Greece: 50,759

According to UNHCR, there has been an increase in returns to Syria. In the first eight months of 2024, some 34,000 Syrian refugees had been verified as having returned home, though the actual number may be considerably higher.