Mines and insecurity block Syrian IDPs from returning home

Displaced persons face severe obstacles that hinder their return, despite the assistance and facilitations offered by the Autonomous Administration. Many IDPs who attempted to return found their homes destroyed and infrastructure absent. Their regions remain littered with landmines and cluster munitions, remnants of years of conflict.

Nashmi al-Rahil, displaced from rural Hama, recounted: “We have been here for years. After the regime’s fall, some of our relatives tried to return, but they found only ruins. The first family to return to our village lost a young man and his livestock when a landmine exploded.”

Others highlighted the breakdown of security, citing rampant banditry and armed gangs—particularly at night—which render return nearly impossible in areas that are almost deserted.

Ahmad al-Salloum, displaced from Homs, said: “Our homeland is destroyed. There is no safety and no basic conditions for life. Here, at least, we have relative security and services, even if they need more support. It is far better than going back to ruins.”

Near Mahmoudli camp, residents of the informal Tuwayhina camp endure similar suffering. While some families left, others stayed due to the absence of security in their original villages, as well as the dangers of landmines and armed groups. The number of families in Tuwayhina dropped from 950 to 595 and has since remained unchanged, according to camp officials.

Displaced persons stressed that their areas lack even the most basic services. Some wells are filled with rocks, while others emit foul odors believed to be from decomposing corpses.

Ali al-Muhammad, displaced from Homs, explained: “The situation in our areas is dire—no services, no safety. Armed groups operate in the desert and mountains, with no clarity about their affiliation. We constantly hear of people we know either killed or maimed by landmine explosions.”

In this grim reality, camp residents prefer the hardships of tent life over returning to homelands where remnants of war and criminal gangs endanger their lives amid a persistent security vacuum—despite the transitional government’s control over these regions for many months.

Abdul Rahim al-Wawi, co-chair of Mahmoudli camp, told our agency that the camp was established in June 2017 with around 1,900 families displaced from Homs, Hama, Deir ez-Zor, and Aleppo countryside. Following the fall of the regime, some IDPs began to return, but the conditions in their towns remain untenable for safe resettlement.

a.k

ANHA