UNHCR's Position on the Return of Refugees to Syria (December 2024)

Published 2024 · Last updated 2024 · 9 min read Edit

AI translation (not yet reviewed) Original: Korean

AI-assisted translation from the Korean original. It may contain errors; please check the original for anything important.

Hello! This is MAP’s Refugee News. UNHCR has released its position on returns to the Syrian Arab Republic.

December 2024

1. We are sharing the attached UNHCR position paper, dated December 2024, on returns to the Syrian Arab Republic. This position replaces and supersedes the March 2021 update of UNHCR’s International Protection Considerations for people fleeing the Syrian Arab Republic (Update VI). Because the situation continues to evolve, these guidelines will be updated early if the rapidly changing circumstances require it.

Voluntary Return

2. Syria stands at a critical crossroads: peace or war, stability or lawlessness, reconstruction or ruin. Right now, a meaningful opportunity is opening for Syria to move toward peace and for its people to return home. For years, UNHCR has been calling for increased efforts to create conditions favorable to the return of refugees and displaced persons, and the current situation offers new opportunities in that direction. These opportunities should not be missed, and all stakeholders must take the following steps:

The effective governing authorities in Syria must remove or address new security, legal, and administrative barriers.
Donor countries must provide meaningful humanitarian and early recovery assistance to returnees, the communities that receive them, and potential areas of return.
UNHCR and partner organizations must be permitted to monitor return conditions at borders and in areas of return.

3. Every person has the right to return to the country of their birth. UNHCR is ready to support Syrian refugees who choose voluntary repatriation with full knowledge of conditions in their place of origin or any alternative location. However, given Syria’s large-scale humanitarian crisis, high levels of internal displacement, and widespread destruction and damage to housing and essential infrastructure, UNHCR is not currently facilitating large-scale voluntary return to Syria.

Call to Halt Forced Returns

4. Syria continues to suffer from attacks and violence, large-scale internal displacement, contamination from explosive remnants of war, a devastated economy, and a severe humanitarian crisis. Even before the recent developments, more than 16 million people were in need of humanitarian assistance. Housing, essential infrastructure, and agricultural land have been severely destroyed, and a decade of serious erosion of housing, land, and property rights has produced complex ownership disputes. Against this backdrop, UNHCR continues to call on all countries to refrain from forcibly returning to any part of Syria any Syrian nationals, any person who previously resided in Syria, and any Palestinian who lived in Syria.

Call to Suspend Negative Decisions on International Protection Claims from Syrians

5. UNHCR also continues to call on all states to allow civilians fleeing Syria to enter their territory, to guarantee the right to seek asylum, and at all times to respect the principle of non-refoulement (the principle that no one should be forcibly returned to a country where they face serious harm).

6. The risks associated with persecution by the Syrian government have diminished, but other risks remain or may grow. Given the rapid changes and fluctuating conditions in Syria, UNHCR is not currently in a position to provide asylum adjudicators with specific guidance on the international protection needs of Syrians. UNHCR is monitoring the situation closely and plans to provide more specific guidance as circumstances allow. In view of the current uncertainty, UNHCR calls on all states to suspend negative decisions on international protection claims lodged by Syrian nationals and by stateless persons who previously resided in Syria. This suspension should remain in place until the situation in Syria stabilizes, reliable information on the security and human rights situation becomes available, and a full assessment of the need to grant refugee status to individual applicants can be carried out.

7. UNHCR considers that the conditions for cessation of refugee status for current beneficiaries of international protection from Syria have not been met.

UNHCR, December 2024

For more information, please visit the website: https://mapcast.org/hr-statement-unhcr의-시리아-아랍-공화국으로의-송환에-대한-입장/

Subscribe to MAP Refugee News to receive important updates by text and WhatsApp: https://forms.gle/beAyntVfMCvPKVv96

#한국 #난민 #SouthKorea #korea #refugee #Corée #réfugiées

Suggest a translation fix

Improve the English translation of this page. The facts and content follow the Korean original; here you only fix the wording.

Leave formatting marks (##, **) as they are; just fix the words.

안녕하세요! MAP의 난민 뉴스입니다 UNHCR의 시리아 아랍 공화국으로의 송환에 대한 입장이 발표되었습니다.

◾2024 12월
1. 첨부된 2024년 12월자 시리아 아랍 공화국 송환에 대한 UNHCR 입장서를 보내드립니다. 이 입장은 2021년 3월에 발표된 시리아 아랍 공화국을 떠난 난민에 대한 국제 보호 고려사항 VI 업데이트를 대체하고 이를 대신합니다. 상황이 계속해서 변하고 있기 때문에, 이 지침은 빠르게 변화하는 상황에 따라 조기에 필요시 업데이트될 예정입니다.

◾자발적 송환
2. 시리아는 평화와 전쟁, 안정과 무법상태, 재건과 파멸 중 어느 길을 선택할지 중요한 기로에 놓여 있습니다. 지금은 시리아가 평화를 향해 나아가고, 국민들이 본국으로 돌아갈 수 있는 의미 있는 기회가 열리고 있습니다. 수년간 UNHCR은 난민과 이주민들이 고향으로 돌아갈 수 있는 유리한 조건을 마련하기 위해 노력을 강화할것을 강조해 왔으며, 현재의 상황은 이와 관련된 새로운 기회를 열어주고 있습니다. 이러한 기회는 모두가 놓치지 말고 적극 활용해야 합니다. 이를 위해 모든 이해 관계자가 아래와 같은 조치를 취해야 합니다:
- 시리아의 실질적인 정부가 새로운 안보, 법적 및 행정적 장벽을 제거하거나 해결할 것
- 귀환자 및 이들을 받아들이는 지역사회와 잠재적 귀환 지역 전반에 대해 기부국들이 실질적 인도적 지원과 초기 복구 지원을 제공할 것
- UNHCR과 협력 기관들이 국경 및 귀환 지역에서 귀환 상황을 모니터링할 수 있도록 허용할 것

3. 모든 사람은 자신이 태어난 국가로 돌아갈 권리가 있습니다. UNHCR은 출신지나 대안 지역의 상황에 대해 충분히 알고 있는 시리아 난민이 자발적인 송환을 선택할 경우 이를 지원할 준비가 되어 있습니다. 그러나 시리아는 대규모 인도적 위기, 높은 수준의 국내 실향, 주택 및 필수 인프라의 광범위한 파괴와 피해 등을 고려할 때, UNHCR은 현재 시리아로의 대규모 자발적 송환을 촉진하지 않고 있습니다.

◾강제송환 중지 요청
4. 현재 시리아는 여전히 공격과 폭력, 대규모 국내 실향, 폭발물 잔해로 인한 오염, 황폐화된 경제 및 심각한 인도적 위기에 시달리고 있습니다. 최근 상황 이전에도 1,600만 명 이상이 인도적 지원을 필요로 했습니다. 또한 주택, 필수 인프라 및 농경지가 심각하게 파괴되었으며, 지난 10년간 주택, 토지 및 재산권이 크게 훼손되어 복잡한 소유권 분쟁이 발생하고 있습니다. 이러한 배경에서, UNHCR은 현재 시점에서 각국에 시리아 국적자와 시리아에 거주했던 적이 있는 사람들, 시리아에 살았던 팔레스타인 사람들까지, 시리아의 어느 지역으로도 강제로 송환하지 말 것을 계속해서 요청하고 있습니다.

◾시리아 국제 보호 신청자에게 부정적인 결정 중지 요청
5. UNHCR은 또한 모든 국가에 시리아를 떠나는 민간인들이 그들의 영토에 들어올 수 있도록 허용하고, 망명 신청 권리를 보장하며, 언제나 비송환 원칙(자국으로 강제로 돌려보내지 않도록 해야 한다는 원칙)을 존중할 것을 계속해서 요청하고 있습니다.

6. 시리아 정부에 의한 박해와 관련된 위험은 사라졌지만, 다른 위험은 여전히 남아있거나 더 커질 수 있습니다. 시리아에서의 급격한 변화와 상황의 변동을 고려할 때, UNHCR은 현재 시리아인들의 국제 보호 필요성에 대해 망명 심사자들에게 구체적인 지침을 제공할 수 있는 상황이 아닙니다. UNHCR은 상황을 면밀히 모니터링하며, 상황이 허락하는 대로 더 구체적인 지침을 제공할 계획입니다. 현재 시리아 상황이 불확실한 점을 감안하여, UNHCR은 시리아 국적자나 시리아에 거주했던 적이 있는 무국적자의 국제 보호 신청에 대해 부정적인 결정을 내리는 것을 일시 중지할 것을 모든 국가에 요청하고 있습니다. 부정적인 결정의 일시 중지는 시리아 상황이 안정되고, 보안과 인권 상황에 대한 신뢰할 수 있는 정보가 제공되어 개별 신청자에게 난민 지위를 부여할 필요성을 전면적으로 평가할 수 있을 때까지 유지되어야 합니다.

7. UNHCR은 현재 시리아에서 온 국제 보호 수혜자들에게 난민 지위를 종료할 조건이 충족되지 않았다고 보고 있습니다.

UNHCR 2024년 12월

자세한 내용은 홈페이지를 확인하세요: https://mapcast.org/hr-statement-unhcr의-시리아-아랍-공화국으로의-송환에-대한-입장/
MAP 난민뉴스 구독
난민뉴스를 구독해서 중요한 소식을 문자, 왓츠앱으로 받아보세요!
https://forms.gle/beAyntVfMCvPKVv96
 #한국 #난민 #SouthKorea #korea #refugee #Corée #réfugiées

English translation

Hello! This is MAP's Refugee News. UNHCR has released its position on returns to the Syrian Arab Republic.

**December 2024**

**1.** We are sharing the attached UNHCR position paper, dated December 2024, on returns to the Syrian Arab Republic. This position replaces and supersedes the March 2021 update of UNHCR's International Protection Considerations for people fleeing the Syrian Arab Republic (Update VI). Because the situation continues to evolve, these guidelines will be updated early if the rapidly changing circumstances require it.

**Voluntary Return**

**2.** Syria stands at a critical crossroads: peace or war, stability or lawlessness, reconstruction or ruin. Right now, a meaningful opportunity is opening for Syria to move toward peace and for its people to return home. For years, UNHCR has been calling for increased efforts to create conditions favorable to the return of refugees and displaced persons, and the current situation offers new opportunities in that direction. These opportunities should not be missed, and all stakeholders must take the following steps:

- The effective governing authorities in Syria must remove or address new security, legal, and administrative barriers.
- Donor countries must provide meaningful humanitarian and early recovery assistance to returnees, the communities that receive them, and potential areas of return.
- UNHCR and partner organizations must be permitted to monitor return conditions at borders and in areas of return.

**3.** Every person has the right to return to the country of their birth. UNHCR is ready to support Syrian refugees who choose voluntary repatriation with full knowledge of conditions in their place of origin or any alternative location. However, given Syria's large-scale humanitarian crisis, high levels of internal displacement, and widespread destruction and damage to housing and essential infrastructure, UNHCR is not currently facilitating large-scale voluntary return to Syria.

**Call to Halt Forced Returns**

**4.** Syria continues to suffer from attacks and violence, large-scale internal displacement, contamination from explosive remnants of war, a devastated economy, and a severe humanitarian crisis. Even before the recent developments, more than 16 million people were in need of humanitarian assistance. Housing, essential infrastructure, and agricultural land have been severely destroyed, and a decade of serious erosion of housing, land, and property rights has produced complex ownership disputes. Against this backdrop, UNHCR continues to call on all countries to refrain from forcibly returning to any part of Syria any Syrian nationals, any person who previously resided in Syria, and any Palestinian who lived in Syria.

**Call to Suspend Negative Decisions on International Protection Claims from Syrians**

**5.** UNHCR also continues to call on all states to allow civilians fleeing Syria to enter their territory, to guarantee the right to seek asylum, and at all times to respect the principle of non-refoulement (the principle that no one should be forcibly returned to a country where they face serious harm).

**6.** The risks associated with persecution by the Syrian government have diminished, but other risks remain or may grow. Given the rapid changes and fluctuating conditions in Syria, UNHCR is not currently in a position to provide asylum adjudicators with specific guidance on the international protection needs of Syrians. UNHCR is monitoring the situation closely and plans to provide more specific guidance as circumstances allow. In view of the current uncertainty, UNHCR calls on all states to suspend negative decisions on international protection claims lodged by Syrian nationals and by stateless persons who previously resided in Syria. This suspension should remain in place until the situation in Syria stabilizes, reliable information on the security and human rights situation becomes available, and a full assessment of the need to grant refugee status to individual applicants can be carried out.

**7.** UNHCR considers that the conditions for cessation of refugee status for current beneficiaries of international protection from Syria have not been met.

*UNHCR, December 2024*

For more information, please visit the website: https://mapcast.org/hr-statement-unhcr의-시리아-아랍-공화국으로의-송환에-대한-입장/

Subscribe to MAP Refugee News to receive important updates by text and WhatsApp:
https://forms.gle/beAyntVfMCvPKVv96

\#한국 #난민 #SouthKorea #korea #refugee #Corée #réfugiées

Translation wrong or unclear?

Found incorrect information? Report it →

UNHCR's Position on the Return of Refugees to Syria (December 2024)

Suggest a translation fix

Related