More than 25,000 Syrian nationals returned to their country between Dec. 9 and Dec. 23, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Tuesday, a record number compared to the average of 11,000 returns monthly. The number skyrocketed after the Syrian revolution toppled the Baathist regime of Bashar Assad after years of civil war that displaced millions.

Türkiye has been home to more than 3 million Syrian refugees since the war began more than a decade ago and pursued an open-door policy for the displaced from its southern neighbor. It now seeks to ensure the voluntary and safe return of refugees as the new administration takes the reins in the country.

A vast majority of Syrian refugees in Türkiye are optimistic about Syria’s future following the ouster of Bashar Assad, and a significant number of them are eager to return to their homeland, according to a recent survey. The survey from Istanbul-based Areda, conducted with 1,100 Syrians across Türkiye on Dec. 9-11, showed 91% of Syrians are happy with the end of Assad’s regime and 71.5% are hopeful about their country’s future. The study showed that 45.5% of Syrians are willing to return home if the situation in Syria improves, while 26.7% are eager to go back "as soon as possible."

Yerlikaya said Türkiye had more than 2.9 million Syrian nationals under temporary protection status granted to refugees and cities in the south, near the Turkish-Syrian border, hosted the majority of them. He said Kilis had the most Syrian nationals compared to its population and refugees made up 29% of the population in the province. Yerlikaya told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Tuesday this number was only 3% in Istanbul, the country’s most populated city with a diverse migrant population. In terms of refugees’ proportion to the local population, Yerlikaya stated that Gaziantep and Şanlıurfa, two border cities, followed Kilis with 409,000 and 244,000 refugees respectively.

The minister stated 61% of Syrians in Türkiye hailed from Aleppo, one of the first cities liberated from the Baathist regime during the revolution. He added that some 875,000 children were born to Syrian families during their stay in Türkiye and more than 819,000 Syrian children attended Turkish schools.

Türkiye prioritized safe, voluntary and dignified returns of Syrians, a policy adopted long before the fall of the Assad regime. Yet, in the past, refugees had fewer motives to return and mostly to areas liberated from terrorist groups in Syria’s north. Yerlikaya noted that more than 763,000 people returned to Syria from Türkiye since 2017.

Authorities increased the capacity of customs at border crossings with Syria amid overwhelming demands. Refugees are first processed at migration authority offices on the border before their departure. Yerlikaya said they asked every returnee whether they had a residence they could stay in Syria. He underlined the dire situation in Syria where the economy was in tatters. "Even so, people are very enthusiastic about returning to their homeland," he stated.

In the past, Türkiye constructed briquette houses for displaced Syrians in that country’s relatively safer north. In the war-torn country where a large number of neighborhoods remain in ruins, finding a house in good condition is a challenge for many. Yerlikaya said some 110,000 families live in houses built by Turkish charities and sponsors. He said President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan instructed them at the Cabinet meeting on Monday to build more houses for returning Syrians and they would cooperate with civic society organizations for construction. He noted that the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) also coordinated efforts to deliver 316 truckloads of flour to Syria in the past weeks, in addition to 571 truckloads of aid sent by charities.

Returnees are being screened before leaving, Yerlikaya said, through a central system that allows checks on their legal records. "If they do not have a criminal record that requires their arrest or incarceration, they are allowed to cross into Syria from one of six border crossings," he said. Syrian refugees are required to acquire a travel permit to travel from their city of residence to another city. Yerlikaya said they were still required to present this permit to authorities for crossing into Syria. Every refugee is also required to sign a form approving they voluntarily returned to their home country. United Nations and Turkish Red Crescent (Kızılay) officials also interview returnees to check whether they voluntarily return to their country, the minister said.

Yerlikaya said they are also flooded with requests from civic society organizations and businesspeople to visit Syria in the post-Assad era and they were planning to accelerate the travel process. The minister said they would also set up migration management offices in Damascus and Aleppo in the Turkish Embassy and Consulate. He said those offices would help authorities in Syria to access records of returnees. "The new administration is still establishing its interior ministry. We have records of displaced Syrians but the administration does not have proper records as terrorist groups and the former regime destroyed archives, from the civic registry to the land registry," he said.

The minister said returning refugees would also be granted limited rights to return to Türkiye. "One person from each household will be allowed three return trips within six months to Türkiye, starting from Jan. 1," he said.