On a recent visit to Syria, I saw thousands of families returning to their communities, from within the country and from neighbouring countries. These are people brimming with ideas and hope after more than a decade of conflict, displacement, and misery.   

But incredibly, there is hardly any visible assistance to help people rebuild lives, homes and livelihoods after years of large investments in emergency relief efforts when return was only a distant dream. The international community cannot fail Syrians now, with recovery so close at hand.  

Across the country, the destruction stretches as far as the eye can see.

I met with families who have returned from displacement camps to find nothing left of their homes: no walls or doors, no electricity, no clean water, no school, and no job to be able to pay for any repairs.  

Some return to find their homes occupied and without legal mechanisms to reclaim what is rightfully theirs. I met children learning in classrooms with crumbling roofs and walls, damage from years of war.   

This is no way to return, and this is no way for Syria to rebuild.

This is the moment we have all have been longing for, when we can support Syrians with the investments needed to return with dignity and rebuild their lives

With more than 800,000 people having left camps across Syria to go back home since December last year, and nearly that number crossing back across the borders from  neighbouring countries, the pressure on areas of return has increased dramatically.

Humanitarian organisations including my organisation, the Norwegian Refugee Council, are working in communities, to support the reconstruction of water infrastructure, the rehabilitation of schools, and with legal aid. But it is not enough.  

The resulting competition over the few resources that do exist will fuel conflicts and make efforts to integrate that much harder. Local tensions are being exacerbated by the insufficient services available to those trying to rebuild their lives.    

The displaced people I met in camps in Idlib said they are longing for the day they can return to their communities. They asked" ‘why can you not help us to rebuild?’.   

Europe, the United States, and the Gulf countries would be making an enormous strategic mistake if they did not seize this critical opportunity to invest in solving one of the world’s largest refugee and displacement crises.   

At NRC, we have proven that we can rebuild communities for those returning from both camps in Syria and from abroad. But despite promises made by countless states in recent months, proper funding for long-term recovery is still woefully lacking.   

While some Syrians are choosing to return from areas of displacement and neighbouring countries, others are not ready or able to do so. Making informed and voluntary decisions will be vital to people’s future and ability to integrate where they are.   

In the meantime, neighbouring host countries, including Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey – who have been grappling with their own immense economic and social strains – must continue to receive support, until conditions inside Syria allow for safe and dignified return.    

The recent hostilities and outbreaks of horrific localised violence have in some places caused new displacement. In As-Sweida, in the south of the country, for example, recent fighting has driven close to 200,000 people out of their homes, many to neighbouring Dara’a, but even as far north as Idlib. There are now urgent needs for shelter, clean water, healthcare and food.     

This latest displacement emergency is a stark reminder that safety guarantees and protection for all communities must be at the centre of all recovery efforts. People fled as their homes were burnt down, with some seeking refuge in camps 400 kilometres away in the north. Restoring basic services and livelihoods for all Syria’s diverse communities is an essential part of ensuing successful recovery and reintegration.