Provision of life-saving assistance and supporting communities

In 2018, more than 1.6 million people moved across Syria. 11.7 million people in Syria remained in need of humanitarian assistance, including 6.2 million Syrian women, men, girls and boys internally displaced. As people were forced into further displacement, UNHCR in partnership with SARC, international and national NGOs continued to provide life-saving assistance to those in need.

In the midst of emergencies there was also hope, people also started returning to their areas of origin, some to their houses, while others to their neighborhoods finding their houses destroyed. More than 1.4 million internally displaced and more than 56,000 refugees returned in 2018. UNHCR recognised that there were obstacles to return, and it was under less than ideal circumstances that IDPs and refugees conducted self-organized and spontaneous returns. UNHCR provides support to returnees not based on their status but based on their needs.