Around 40,000 Syrians Return from Türkiye after Quake

People stand by a building destroyed in recent earthquake in Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Feb. 27, 2023. (AP)
People stand by a building destroyed in recent earthquake in Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Feb. 27, 2023. (AP)
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Around 40,000 Syrians Return from Türkiye after Quake

People stand by a building destroyed in recent earthquake in Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Feb. 27, 2023. (AP)
People stand by a building destroyed in recent earthquake in Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Feb. 27, 2023. (AP)

Around 40,000 Syrians who had fled areas affected by the deadly Feb. 6 earthquake have returned from Türkiye to opposition-held northwestern Syria in the two weeks since Türkiye eased restrictions on their movements, a Turkish official and a Syrian rebel official said.

The immigration was recorded at four border crossings held by Syrian armed groups opposed to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, Mazen Alloush, a media officer at the rebel-held Bab Al-Hawa border crossing with Türkiye, told Reuters.

As of Monday, some 13,500 had crossed through Bab al-Hawa, nearly 10,000 through Jarabulus crossing and around 7,000 each through the Bab al-Salam and Tal Abiad crossings, according to a table of statistics Alloush provided.

A Turkish defense ministry official confirmed that the number of Syrians who had returned to their country reached 40,000 as of Monday. More Syrians were returning and the number was increasing daily, the official added.

Restrictions put in place by Türkiye in April last year, just before the Eid al Fitr holiday, had banned Syrians with temporary protection permits from making round-trips to Syria in an effort promote one-way returns.

Türkiye hosts some 3.5 million Syrian refugees and anti-refugee sentiment has been on the rise in recent years.

In the aftermath of the quake, Syrians have taken advantage of an offer from Turkish authorities to spend up to six months in the northwest without losing the chance to return.

Many have gone back to check on relatives following the temblor that killed more than 44,000 people in Türkiye and around 6,000 in Syria, most of them in the country's opposition-held northwest, according to the UN.

Others have temporarily moved in with relatives after their homes and businesses in Türkiye were destroyed in the quake.

"The plan is to go see our relatives and get out of this difficult atmosphere here," said Khaled al-Ahmed, a Syrian laborer in his mid-50s who had been living in Kahramanmaras, one of the worse-hit areas.

He and his 10 children were waiting to proceed past the Turkish side of the Bab al-Hawa crossing at the weekend, the first time they would return to Syria since leaving as refugees eight years earlier. His home had been heavily damaged and work stopped, he said.

"People are going without knowing where they are heading, they just want to get out of here for now," he said, adding he would seek to return to Türkiye in one or two months.

Around 4 million people live in northwest Syria, with most of them dependent on aid even before the latest disaster, according to the UN.



UN Says ‘Deliberate’ Choices ‘Systematically’ Depriving Gazans

04 June 2025, Palestinian Territories, Nusirat: Displaced Palestinians gather in a charity kitchen to receive aid amid a shortage of food, in Nuseirat refugee camp. (Belal Abu Amer/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa)
04 June 2025, Palestinian Territories, Nusirat: Displaced Palestinians gather in a charity kitchen to receive aid amid a shortage of food, in Nuseirat refugee camp. (Belal Abu Amer/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa)
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UN Says ‘Deliberate’ Choices ‘Systematically’ Depriving Gazans

04 June 2025, Palestinian Territories, Nusirat: Displaced Palestinians gather in a charity kitchen to receive aid amid a shortage of food, in Nuseirat refugee camp. (Belal Abu Amer/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa)
04 June 2025, Palestinian Territories, Nusirat: Displaced Palestinians gather in a charity kitchen to receive aid amid a shortage of food, in Nuseirat refugee camp. (Belal Abu Amer/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa)

The UN aid chief said Wednesday that recent "horrifying scenes" of Gazans being killed while seeking food aid were the result of "deliberate choices that have systematically deprived" them of essentials to survive.

A US and Israeli-backed group operating aid sites in the Gaza Strip announced the temporary closure of its facilities on Wednesday, with the Israeli army warning that roads leading to distribution centers were "considered combat zones".

The announcement by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation follows a string of deadly incidents near the distribution sites it operates.

On Tuesday, 27 people were killed in southern Gaza when Israeli troops opened fire near a GHF aid site, with the military saying the incident was under investigation.

"The world is watching, day after day, horrifying scenes of Palestinians being shot, wounded or killed in Gaza while simply trying to eat," UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said in a statement.

"Emergency medical teams have confirmed treating hundreds of trauma cases. Yesterday alone, dozens were declared dead at hospitals after Israeli forces said they had opened fire.

"This is the outcome of a series of deliberate choices that have systematically deprived two million people of the essentials they need to survive."

He echoed the call by UN chief Antonio Guterres for immediate independent investigations, saying they were not isolated incidents, and the perpetrators must be held accountable.

"No-one should have to risk their life to feed their children," said Fletcher.

The GHF began operations a week ago, but the UN and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with it over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.

Meanwhile the United Nations has described the amount of aid allowed into Gaza, after Israel partially lifted a more than two-month total blockade, as a trickle.

"We must be allowed to do our jobs: we have the teams, the plan, the supplies and the experience," said Fletcher, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator.

"Open the crossings -- all of them. Let in life-saving aid at scale, from all directions. Lift the restrictions on what and how much aid we can bring in.

"Ensure our convoys aren't held up by delays and denials. Release the hostages. Implement the ceasefire."