Over 7,600 Syrians return from Turkiye in five days after Assad's downfall: minister

Highlights

A total of 7,621 Syrian nationals voluntarily returned to their homeland between December 9 and December 13, following the downfall of former Syrian...

A total of 7,621 Syrian nationals voluntarily returned to their homeland between December 9 and December 13, following the downfall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government, Turkiye's Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced Sunday.

In a statement on the social media platform X, Yerlikaya provided detailed accounts concerning the daily returns of Syrians -- 1,259 on December 9, with 1,669, 1,293, 1,553, and 1,847 recorded in the following days, Xinhua news agency reported.

Yerlikaya underscored that these Syrians' repatriation was conducted in a "voluntary, safe, dignified, and orderly manner."

A total of 2,938,261 Syrians are now "under temporary protection" in Türkiye, according to the minister.

Türkiye, hosting millions of Syrian refugees who fled civil war since 2011, has recently seen increasing returns of Syrian refugees after the fall of al-Assad and its government on December 8.

Early on Monday, hundreds of refugees passed at the Cilvegozu border crossing some 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Aleppo, Syria's second city, with interior ministry figures showing 1,259 crossed that day.

Another 1,669 crossed on Tuesday, 1,293 on Wednesday, 1,553 on Thursday and 1,847 on Friday.

Within 48 hours of Assad's fall, Turkey had increased its daily crossing capacity from 3,000 to between 15,000 to 20,000, Yerlikaya said earlier this week.

Turkey shares a 900-kilometre (560-mile) border with Syria with five operational crossings, and has said it would open a sixth in the far west to "ease the traffic".

With anti-Syrian sentiment running high within Turkish society, Ankara is keen to see as many refugees as possible return to their homeland.

Around 1.24 million -- some 42 per cent -- of them hail from the Aleppo region, the interior ministry has said.