The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on Friday announced that nearly a half-million people who had fled their home in Syria due to the civil war have returned since the beginning of the year.
About 440,000 internally displaced people and 31,000 refugees from Syria are back home, or about 10 percent of the estimated 5 million Syrian refugees.
The UNHCR said it has documented a “notable trend of spontaneous returns.” Andrej Mahecic, UNHCR spokesman, said it was a “significant trend, and a significant number,” according to the Associated Press.
Those returning have mostly gone to Aleppo, Hama, Homs and Damascus to check in on family members, property or because there is a “real or perceived improvement in security conditions.”
The UN envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, told the UN Security Council this week there has been a decline in overall violence in Syria in recent days.
