A Turkish and Syrian opposition official estimated that 40,000 Syrians who fled the fatal Feb. 6 earthquake had returned from Turkey to rebel-held northwestern Syria in the two weeks since Ankara lifted restrictions.
Mazen Alloush, a media officer at the rebel-held Bab Al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey, told Reuters that four border checkpoints reported immigration.
According to a figure Alloush gave, 13,500 people have passed Bab Al-Hawa, roughly 10,000 through Jarabulus, and 7,000 each through Bab Al-Salam and Tal Abiad as of Monday.
On Monday, a Turkish defense ministry spokesman reported 40,000 Syrians returning home. The officer stated that more Syrians returned every day.
Turkey restricted Syrians with temporary protection licenses from making round-trips to Syria in April last year, shortly before Eid al Fitr, to encourage one-way returns.
Turkey accommodates 3.5 million Syrian refugees, and anti-refugee sentiment has grown.
Syrians have taken advantage of a Turkish offer to remain up to six months in the northwest without losing the right to return following the earthquake.
After the temblor that killed more than 44,000 people in Turkey and 6,000 in Syria, mostly in the rebel-held northwest, many have returned to check on the family.
After the earthquake, others moved in with family.
“The aim is to go see our family and get away of this horrible climate here,” said Khaled al-Ahmed, a mid-50s Syrian laborer from Kahramanmaras, one of the worst-hit localities.
He and his ten children returned to Syria at the weekend after eight years as refugees, waiting to pass the Bab al-Hawa border from Turkey. He stated his home was seriously damaged, and work stopped.
“People are fleeing without knowing where they are heading, they just want to get out of here for now,” he added, adding that he will return to Turkey in one or two months.
The U.N. estimates that 4 million people in northwest Syria depended on help before the recent calamity.
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