Syria: Country Report | 2024

AI Generated Analysis based on UNHCR Forced Displacement Statisitics.

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Executive Summary

KEY TRENDS: SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC 2024

The humanitarian emergency in the Syrian Arab Republic remains a crisis of staggering proportions, defined by a deep-rooted volatility that defies the passage of time. In 2024, the total population of concern stands at approximately 24 million—a figure that serves as a stark testament to a world in turmoil. While the conflict has faded from some headlines, the drivers of displacement remain aggressively active. Internal displacement has swelled to a record peak of 7.4 million, an increase of over 160,000 individuals in just one year. This surge creates new humanitarian needs faster than we can respond, eclipsing the tentative progress of 513,000 IDP returns and highlighting the fragility of the current landscape.

The geography of this crisis reveals a fractured global response. While displacement from Syria spans 123 reporting countries, the burden of responsibility is acutely polarized. Low- and middle-income countries in the immediate region continue to host the overwhelming majority of the displaced, straining infrastructure to the breaking point. Our data indicates that 75 percent of nations host fewer than 3,000 individuals, while the immediate region manages millions. The chasm between the global footprint of the crisis and the localized pressure on host communities highlights a critical lack of burden-sharing that threatens regional stability.

The search for durable solutions remains characterized by a widening gap between ambition and reality. While protection mechanisms successfully identify vulnerable populations—particularly women and children who comprise the majority of the displaced—resettlement pathways and sustainable reintegration opportunities have failed to keep pace. The asylum landscape is further marred by inconsistency, where geography often dictates destiny; recognition rates for Syrians fluctuate precipitously across borders, leaving millions in a protracted legal and physical limbo.

Looking toward 2025, planning figures suggest a significant rise in anticipated solutions, yet these projections must be viewed as a call to action rather than a guarantee. Unless the international community translates these planning figures into tangible commitments—bridging the gap between the high volume of identified needs and the scarcity of actual places—the promise of a solution will remain out of reach. We cannot allow the Syrian crisis to fossilize into permanent displacement; the cost of inaction is a generation lost.

Population Overview

Syrian Arab Republic

The humanitarian landscape in the Syrian Arab Republic continues to be defined by displacement on a staggering scale. As of 2024, the total population of concern stands at approximately 24 million, a figure that underscores the deep-rooted and protracted nature of the crisis. Behind these stark numbers lies a demographic distribution heavily skewed toward internal displacement, where the burden of the conflict rests disproportionately on a single dominant category. This primary group—comprising the vast majority of those in need—accounts for approximately 68 percent of the total population, overshadowing all other administrative categories combined.

The trajectory of displacement reveals a situation that is far from static. Between 2023 and 2024, while most population groups showed only minor statistical fluctuations, the primary displaced population swelled by over 160,000 individuals, pushing specific displacement figures to a peak of roughly 7.4 million. This increase starkly illustrates that the drivers of displacement remain active, creating new needs faster than solutions can be found. While the data notes the return of approximately 513,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs), this progress is eclipsed by the sheer magnitude of those who remain uprooted, highlighting the immense gap between tentative stability and sustainable reintegration.

The demographic profile of the affected population further illuminates the vulnerabilities inherent in this crisis. An analysis of 6.35 million individuals reveals a population structure with a broad base of children and working-age adults, yet a sharp tapering among the elderly, who constitute less than 4 percent of the total. Women and girls represent a slight majority at 51.5 percent, necessitating robust, gender-responsive protection interventions. Furthermore, the concentration of the population in the 18-59 age bracket indicates a severe disruption to the workforce and the economic resilience of families.

Additionally, while the Syrian Arab Republic is primarily a country of origin for displacement, it also hosts a modest refugee population. This group is characterized by a highly uneven distribution, where nationals from one specific country of origin, numbering just over 8,400, significantly outnumber all others. Ultimately, the data portrays a complex emergency where the scale of internal displacement continues to pose a catastrophic challenge to host communities and humanitarian actors alike.

Demographics

AI Insight: Treemap of population groups in the Syrian Arab Republic, where a single category representing over 16.4 million individuals dominates the total population of concern of 24 million., A treemap visualizes the composition of the 24,074,000 individuals of concern in the Syrian Arab Republic as of 2024. The dataset categorizes the population into 7 distinct types. The distribution is highly skewed, characterized by a single dominant category (likely Internally Displaced Persons) containing 16,471,143 individuals, which accounts for approximately 68% of the total. The remaining population is distributed among smaller groups, with a median group size of 17,683 and a 75th percentile of roughly 3.8 million. There is a high standard deviation of 6.37 million, highlighting the vast disparity between the largest group and the smaller administrative categories. Additionally, the data notes a specific count of 513,896 returned IDPs.

AI Insight: Population pyramid showing age and gender distribution for 6.35 million individuals in the Syrian Arab Republic, where the population is roughly balanced with a slight female majority (approx. 51.5%) and the largest concentration in the adult age range., The visualization is a population pyramid representing the demographic profile of 6,348,700 individuals (Refugees, Asylum Seekers, IDPs, etc.) in the Syrian Arab Republic as of 2024. The data features 100% gender disaggregation across five age cohorts (typically 0-4, 5-11, 12-17, 18-59, and 60+).

Statistical analysis indicates a slightly female-dominant demographic. Females comprise approximately 51.5% of the total population (sum of cohort means: 10.3% x 5), while males comprise approximately 48.7% (sum of cohort means: 9.74% x 5).

The distribution shows significant variance between age groups. The largest single cohorts (likely the 18-59 age range) represent 26.7% of the female population and 22.4% of the male population. Conversely, the smallest cohorts (likely 60+) represent roughly 3.6% to 3.8% of the respective gender groups. The data spread suggests a population structure with a broad base of children and working-age adults, tapering significantly for the elderly.

Geography & Movements

Regional Focus: Syrian Arab Republic

The Geography of Displacement: Concentration Amidst a Global Footprint

Behind the stark numbers of the 2024 reporting period lies a complex dual narrative regarding the Syrian Arab Republic: it remains both a profound source of global displacement and a theatre of intense internal instability. The data reveals that while the displacement crisis associated with Syria has reached a global scale—spanning 241 geographic entities—the burden of responsibility is far from evenly shared.

The geospatial analysis highlights an extreme polarization in the distribution of those in need of international protection. While the global footprint is wide, with 123 countries reporting data, the population is heavily concentrated in the source country and its immediate neighbors. A statistical review shows a global median of only 190 individuals per host country, with 75 per cent of nations hosting fewer than 3,000 people. This contrasts sharply with the maximum values, where the population swells to over 7.4 million in a single geographic concentration. This disparity underscores a recurring theme in global trends: while displacement is a worldwide phenomenon, the overwhelming volume of humanity remains in proximity to the crisis origin, placing a disproportionate strain on regional infrastructure rather than distant global North partners.

Within the Syrian Arab Republic itself, the evolution of displacement from 2019 to 2025 confirms that Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) constitute the vast majority of the population of concern. Alluvial diagrams tracking these flows indicate that IDP numbers have consistently dwarfed other categories, such as stateless persons, peaking at over 7.4 million. This massive internal churn is the dominant current in the region’s humanitarian landscape, significantly outpacing cross-border movements in sheer volume.

Furthermore, Syria acts as a host country for refugees, though on a significantly smaller scale. The demographic profile of refugees residing within Syria is defined by a single major country of origin comprising over 8,400 individuals, a figure that stands as a massive outlier against a median of just 248 for other groups. Ultimately, the data regarding top destinations for displaced Syrians reveals a distribution characterized by immense variability. With a standard deviation exceeding 27 million across top destinations, the gap between the median intake and the primary hosting locations illustrates a critical lack of burden-sharing. This constitutes a rise in pressure on primary host nations, necessitating urgent, sustained international support to bridge the gap between acute humanitarian needs and available resources.

AI Insight: World map showing the distribution of people from the Syrian Arab Republic in need of international protection as of 2024, where the population is heavily concentrated in a single location (over 7.4 million), contrasting with a global median of only 190 individuals per country., This geospatial visualization displays the destination countries of refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced persons (IDPs), and others of concern from the Syrian Arab Republic as of 2024. The dataset covers 241 geographic entities, with reported values available for 123 countries (118 missing). The data is characterized by an extreme right skew: while the maximum value reaches approximately 7.41 million—likely representing IDPs within Syria or the primary regional host country—the median value is only 190 people. Furthermore, 75% of the countries with data host fewer than 3,000 individuals. This indicates that while the Syrian displacement crisis has a global footprint, the overwhelming majority of the affected population remains concentrated in the source country or its immediate neighbors.

Origin of Displaced Populations

AI Insight: Bar chart of refugee numbers in the Syrian Arab Republic by top countries of origin in 2024, where one origin group significantly dominates with 8,464 people compared to a median of 248 for the remaining groups., This horizontal bar chart displays the distribution of refugees in the Syrian Arab Republic for the year 2024, categorized by the top 9 countries of origin (plus an likely ‘Other’ category, totaling 10 groups). The statistical profile reveals a highly skewed distribution. One specific origin group represents a massive outlier with a population of 8,464, while the remaining groups are significantly smaller, ranging from a minimum of 57 to a 75th percentile of 604. The median value sits at 248, indicating that most represented countries contribute fewer than 300 refugees. Due to the single high-value outlier, the mean (1,164) is roughly 4.7 times higher than the median, and the standard deviation is extremely high (2,590), confirming a large disparity in population sizes among the top origins.

AI Insight: Alluvial diagram illustrating the evolution of forcibly displaced population origins in the Syrian Arab Republic (2019-2025), where internally displaced Syrians constitute the vast majority, peaking at over 7.4 million individuals., This alluvial diagram visualizes the flow and changes in the origin of forcibly displaced populations residing within the Syrian Arab Republic over a seven-year period from 2019 to 2025. The dataset consists of 21 observations, representing three distinct origin categories tracked annually: Syrians (likely Internally Displaced Persons), Stateless individuals, and Others.

The data reveals a highly skewed distribution across these categories. The population counts range from a minimum of approximately 16,900 to a maximum of nearly 7.41 million. The mean value is approximately 2.33 million, but the median is significantly lower at 160,000, confirming that one category (Syrians/IDPs) disproportionately drives the high overall numbers while the other two categories remain comparatively small.

Visually, the chart displays streams flowing from left to right across the years 2019 through 2025. The width of the streams corresponds to the population size (in thousands). The dominant stream represents individuals originating from Syria, highlighting the massive scale of internal displacement compared to populations of stateless or other origins within the country.

Destination

AI Insight: Bar chart displaying the top 10 destination countries for forcibly displaced people from the Syrian Arab Republic in 2024, where the data shows a highly skewed distribution with one category having a value significantly higher (max ~89M) than the median (~5.1M)., A column chart titled ‘What are the main destinations for Forcibly Displaced People?’ illustrates the top destination countries for populations from the Syrian Arab Republic as of 2024. The chart utilizes bars with text labels to display the number of displaced people across 10 distinct destinations. Statistical analysis of the underlying data reveals immense variability, with a standard deviation of approximately 27.9 million. The values range from a minimum of roughly 605,000 to a maximum of 89 million. The distribution is heavily right-skewed; the mean (16.2 million) significantly exceeds the median (5.1 million), indicating that one specific data point—likely an aggregate total or a major outlier—dwarfs the figures for the other nine countries. The histogram confirms this disparity, showing a cluster of countries with lower intake numbers compared to the single extreme maximum.

Asylum System

Asylum and Protection Systems: The Syrian Context

The 2024 data regarding the Syrian Arab Republic presents a complex dual narrative of a nation that continues to generate significant displacement while simultaneously struggling to manage volatile asylum processes within its own borders. Behind these stark numbers lies a profound disparity in protection outcomes, illustrating the unequal burden shared by host countries and the administrative bottlenecks impeding access to safety.

For Syrian nationals seeking international protection, the data reveals that geography often dictates destiny. In 2024, recognition rates across the top ten countries of asylum varied precipitously, ranging from a negligible 0.3 percent to over 73 percent. While the inclusion of complementary protection boosts the average total recognition rate to 61 percent, the inconsistency highlights a fragmented global response. Moreover, the burden of these applications is heavily concentrated; a single host country processed over 1.2 million decisions, demonstrating the immense pressure on specific national asylum systems while others manage comparatively negligible caseloads.

Simultaneously, the asylum infrastructure within the Syrian Arab Republic faces its own acute challenges. Case volumes from 2019 through projections into 2025 exhibit extreme variability, with peak periods seeing over 8,000 applications in single categories, testing the resilience of local administrative capacities. This volatility is compounded by processing inefficiencies. An analysis of cumulative applications versus decisions between 2020 and 2026 illustrates a persistent divergence, signifying a widening gap in processing times that leaves applicants in prolonged limbo between registration and a first-instance decision.

Even when decisions are rendered within Syria, protection is far from guaranteed. For the top ten countries of origin seeking asylum inside the Syrian Arab Republic, the average refugee recognition rate stood at a modest 23.5 percent in 2024, with some nationalities facing rates as low as 1.3 percent. The flow of over 68,000 refugee status determination decisions tracked through the system further reveals that while volume is high, positive outcomes are heavily skewed toward specific pathways. This confluence of delayed processing, volatile application rates, and low recognition probabilities underscores the critical need for sustained resources to strengthen asylum capacity and ensure that the fundamental right to seek asylum is not eroded by systemic inefficiencies.

AI Insight: Bar chart of asylum applications and decisions for the Syrian Arab Republic (2019-2025), where case volumes exhibit high variability and a significant peak of over 8,000 in a single category., A bar chart titled ‘Asylum Applications & Decisions | Syrian Arab Rep. 2019 - 2024’ visualizes the flow of asylum cases, categorized by three distinct stages of the asylum process. Although the title indicates a range up to 2024, the dataset includes values up to 2025. The data is highly skewed: while the median number of cases per category/year is 133, the mean is 785, driven by significant outliers, including a maximum value of 8,152. This high standard deviation (1,862) suggests that certain years or specific stages of the application process experience vastly higher volumes than others. The chart includes a note specifying that under certain circumstances, one person may have more than one application.

AI Insight: Parallel sets chart of Refugee Status Determination decisions for the Syrian Arab Republic in 2024, where 68,853 decisions flow across three distinct administrative or outcome stages., This parallel sets visualization (alluvial plot) outlines the flow of Refugee Status Determination (RSD) decisions related to the Syrian Arab Republic for the year 2024. The chart represents a total volume of 68,853 decisions. The data is structured across three distinct vertical axes (represented by variable ‘x’), with flows connecting 11 unique categories (variable ‘y’) to visualize the relationships and proportions of the decision-making process. The width of the connecting bands corresponds to the count of decisions (‘n’). The data distribution is skewed, with a significant variation in flow sizes; the largest single flow contains 27,840 decisions, while the mean flow size is 2,869 (SD = 5,499), indicating that a substantial portion of the decisions follow a primary pathway or outcome compared to several smaller, less frequent categories.

AI Insight: Area chart comparing cumulative asylum applications and decisions in the Syrian Arab Republic from 2020 to 2026, where the gap between the two flows illustrates the average processing time in days., This visualization is a cumulative area chart titled ‘Average Processing Time from Asylum Registration to First Instance Decision’ focused on the Syrian Arab Republic. The X-axis represents years, covering a range from 2020 to 2026, while the Y-axis displays the cumulative total of cases. The dataset tracks two main flows—likely ‘Applications’ and ‘Decisions’—across 14 observations. Cumulative case counts range from a minimum of 1,569 to a maximum of 13,056. The chart utilizes GeomArea to display the volume of cases over time, and GeomSegment with GeomText to explicitly label the time gap (measured in days) between the registration of a claim and the first instance decision. The divergence between the two area curves visualizes the processing backlog and time efficiency.

Recognition Rates

AI Insight: Bar chart showing 2024 refugee recognition rates in the Syrian Arab Republic for the top 10 countries of origin, where rates vary significantly from 1.3% to 59.2% with an average of 23.5%., The visualization depicts the refugee recognition rates in the Syrian Arab Republic for the year 2024. The data covers the top 10 countries of origin, ordered by the total number of decisions processed (TotalDecided).

Statistical analysis reveals a wide disparity in outcomes among these ten populations. The refugee recognition rate (measured) ranges from a minimum of 1.33% to a maximum of 59.2%. The distribution is skewed towards the lower end, indicated by a median rate of 17.5% compared to a mean of 23.5%.

In terms of caseload volume, the data is heavily skewed. While the dataset represents the ‘top 10’ by volume, the total decisions range from 617 to 38,368. The large standard deviation (11,519) relative to the mean (6,498) suggests that one country of origin accounts for a disproportionately large share of the decisions compared to the others. Complementary protection is rarely granted, with a median of 0 and a mean of 25.4 absolute cases.

AI Insight: Bar chart showing 2024 Refugee Recognition Rates for Syrian nationals across the top 10 countries of asylum, where rates vary significantly from 0.3% to 73.2% depending on the host country., This visualization depicts the 2024 Refugee Recognition Rate for nationals from the Syrian Arab Republic. The chart displays data for the top 10 Countries of Asylum, which are ordered by the volume of Total Decisions made.

Statistical analysis reveals the following insights: - High Variance in Recognition: There is a wide disparity in outcomes across the top 10 countries. The Refugee Recognition Rate ranges from a minimum of 0.3% to a maximum of 73.2%, with a mean rate of 38.1%. - Total Protection: When Complementary Protection is factored in, the Total Recognition Rate is significantly higher, averaging 61% and peaking at 88.2%. - Caseload Concentration: The sorting variable, Total Decisions, is highly skewed (Standard Deviation: ~357,000 against a Mean of ~191,000; Max value ~1.2 million). This indicates that the vast majority of decisions are processed by a very small number of these 10 countries, while others handle significantly smaller caseloads.

Solutions

Durable Solutions: Bridging the Gap for Syrian Refugees

For over a decade, the displacement of people from the Syrian Arab Republic has remained one of the defining humanitarian challenges of our time. As the search for durable solutions—voluntary repatriation, local integration, and resettlement—continues, the data reveals a trajectory marked by acute volatility and a persistent gap between protection needs and available pathways.

Behind these stark numbers lies a narrative of disruption and tentative recovery. Following robust engagement in 2019, the onset of global restrictions in 2020 and 2021 precipitated a drastic decline in realized solutions. During this period, average figures plummeted to approximately 17,000, reflecting the near-total closure of borders and the stalling of processing pipelines due to the global pandemic. It was not until 2022 that a recovery trajectory began to materialize, yet even this rebound has been uneven. While 2022 saw a rise in general solution figures, a closer examination of the interplay between refugee recognitions and specific solution pathways exposes a critical shortfall.

The disparity is particularly evident when analyzing protection thresholds. In specific contexts, while refugee recognitions peaked in 2022 with the identification of hundreds of individuals in acute need, available solutions for this cohort remained virtually non-existent. For nearly the entire period between 2019 and 2025, specific solution pathways flatlined at zero, with the exception of a negligible uptake in 2022. This disconnect underscores a systemic bottleneck: while protection mechanisms successfully identify vulnerable Syrians requiring intervention, the corresponding avenues for resettlement or other durable outcomes have failed to keep pace, leaving recognized refugees in a state of protracted limbo.

Looking ahead, the landscape appears to be shifting toward ambitious planning. Projections for 2024 indicate a surge in anticipated solutions, culminating in a significant peak in 2025 where planning figures are estimated to reach unprecedented highs. This constitutes a projected rise of significant magnitude relative to the stagnation of the early decade. However, these 2025 projections must be interpreted with caution. They represent potential rather than certainty. Unless the international community translates these planning figures into tangible commitments—bridging the chasm between the high volume of identified needs and the scarcity of actual places—the promise of a solution will remain out of reach for the vast majority of displaced Syrians.

AI Insight: Bar chart of solutions for forcibly displaced people from the Syrian Arab Republic (2019-2025), where figures drop sharply in 2020-2021 before rising significantly to a projected peak in 2025., A bar chart titled ‘What are the trends in terms of Solutions?’ illustrates data for the Syrian Arab Republic from 2019 through 2025. The dataset contains 28 records grouped by year, indicating 4 data points per year. The trend shows high variability: 2019 began with robust figures (mean ~119,000, max ~477,000), followed by a drastic decline in 2020 and 2021 where means dropped to approximately 17,000 and 18,000 respectively. A recovery trajectory is observed starting in 2022 (mean ~64,000), dipping slightly in 2023, and then surging in 2024 (mean ~128,000). The year 2025 shows the highest values in the dataset (mean ~248,000, max ~992,000), suggesting a significant projected increase in solutions or planning figures relative to previous years.

AI Insight: Line chart comparing refugee recognitions against available solutions for Syrian Arab Rep. from 2019 to 2025, where recognitions fluctuate significantly—peaking in 2022—while solutions remain at zero for nearly the entire period., A line chart and ribbon plot illustrates the gap between refugee recognitions (indicated in blue) and available solutions (indicated in teal) for the Syrian Arab Republic from 2019 through 2025. The data reveals a highly unequal relationship between the two variables.

Refugee recognitions show high volatility: beginning at 104 in 2019, dropping to a low of 15 in 2020, and rising to a significant peak of 235 in 2022. Following the peak, recognitions declined to 133 in 2023, 60 in 2024, and 54 in 2025.

Conversely, available solutions remained flat at 0 for almost every year (2019, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024, and 2025). The only year recording any solutions was 2022, with a minor value of 12. The visual emphasizes a critical shortfall, as available solutions are virtually non-existent compared to the volume of recognized refugees.