$43m in donations to aid Syrian refugees - UNHCR

AMMAN — The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced on Sunday that it received around $43 million in donor contributions in January 2025 to support its operations.

The agency noted that many Syrian refugees in Jordan were considering returning home, with some ready for immediate repatriation and others requiring more time following the fall of Bashar Assad’s regime.

The UNHCR reaffirmed its commitment to assisting those who opt for voluntary return, offering counselling and transportation support, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

In January alone, around 20,000 registered Syrian refugees returned to Syria, raising the total number of returnees since Assad’s fall in December 2024 to around 25,500, according to the UNHCR. 

In January 2025,, UNHCR distributed $3.2 million in cash assistance to 20,000 vulnerable families from host communities in Jordan, reiterating its ongoing support for refugees in the kingdom. 

UNHCR previously announced a $22 million fundraising goal for 2025 to facilitate Syrian refugee returns from Jordan and provide reintegration support upon arrival as part of a broader $370.9 million regional funding plan.

According to the Ministry of Interior, a total of 42,675 Syrians have left Jordan through the Jaber border crossing since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.  

The ministry told Al-Mamlaka TV that 7,117 refugees from Jordan’s camps and 35,558 Syrians from various parts of the country have returned voluntarily to Syria.  

Jordan currently hosts around 1.3 million Syrian refugees, including 660,000 registered with UNHCR, alongside nearly 61,000 Iraqi refugees.