Regional Refugee & Resilience Plan (3RP) Regional Strategic Overview 2021-2022

This report is a regional strategic overview for the Syria Crisis, focusing on 2021-2022. The report includes a brief timeline of the crisis, a response summary and and overview of strategic interventions.

With the Syria crisis entering the eleventh year, the conflict continues to drive the largest refugees’ crisis in the world. Over 5.5 million Syrian refugees are registered with UNHCR in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt which remains broadly in line with last year’s figures. To contain the spread of COVID-19, several countries in the region decided to close borders and impose movement restrictions, which led to a considerable decrease in the overall return movement. By the third quarter of 2020, over 31,000 refugees in the region had spontaneously returned to Syria, a reduction of around 70 per cent compared to the same time last year. Resettlement submissions and departures were also affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, there was no major influx recorded in 2020 as borders and admissions procedures remained closely managed, even before the COVID-19 restrictions. The modest net increase in registered refugees across the region is primarily linked to the registration of new-borns. In addition to registered Syrian refugees, additional Syrians are present in host countries, along with refugees of other nationalities, asylum seekers, and stateless persons.