叙利亚人回国 援助资金枯竭

Syrians continue fleeing their war-torn country at a rate of several thousand per day. But as the crisis moves toward its fifth year and aid agency funding dries up, host countries are seeing an increasing number of refugees returning to Syria.

They do not know when, or if, they will see their loved ones again. Syria's refugees fled airstrikes and shelling for the safety of Jordan, now saying they are caught in an impossible situation, they are choosing to return to the nightmare.

"Safety? There's no safety there. My house was demolished; I have no house to go back to. I'll have to live in a tent. But the aid coupons we get here aren't enough and we aren’t allowed to work," said Mohammed, a Syrian returnee.

Aid agency budgets are diminishing. Straining to support four million Syrian refugees, NGO’s are cutting programs, including food aid. Refugees fleeing Syria outnumber those who choose to go back. But aid organizations and camp officials say they see a growing trend of return.

"The numbers are increasing because people hear about more and more areas taken over by the Free Syrian Army so they tell us they want to go back to their country and their families," said Bilal Azzud, officer in charge of Syrian returnees.

It is a perilous choice. The dangers awaiting them inside Syria are well known. But the danger begins even before they get to the border. A Jordanian officer said that sometimes, on the way to the border, the buses are targeted.

Returnees are targeted by factions fighting inside the very towns they are heading for, as they move toward the border.

For some, the decision to go back is borne of longing. Separated from parents, siblings and even children for years, they want to reunite—even at the risk of their own lives.