Chapter 5 Refugee returns The context in which refugees return to their country of origin influences the sustainability of their return and their chances to rebuild their lives in safety and with dignity. If returns occur prematurely in the absence of conducive conditions in the country of origin or are induced primarily by factors including deteriorating conditions in the former country of asylum, reestablishment in the country of origin will be much harder to achieve. In 2024, more than 1.6 million refugees from 117 countries of origin returned from a total of 78 countries of asylum. This is the highest annual number of refugee returns since 2002, when nearly two million Afghans returned. In 2024, 92 per cent of all returning refugees were Syrians (512,700),175 South Sudanese (404,700),176 Afghans (364,400),177 and Ukrainians (209,100).178 These returns have occurred either because of adverse circumstances in the former country of asylum, or to countries where security concerns persist, peace remains elusive or the infrastructure is significantly degraded. Over the last decade, refugee returns to each of these countries has continued to increase. For example, 1.7 million South Sudanese returned to their country during the past decade and nearly a quarter of whom did so in 2024 alone (see figure 20).179 Similarly, nearly half of Syrians that have returned in the same period (1.1 million in total) and over one-third of Afghans (962,700 in total) did so in 2024. Figure 20 | Cumulative refugee returns by country of origin | 2018 - 2024 2.0M South Sudan Number of people 1.5M Ukraine 1.0M Syria 500K Afghanistan Burundi 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 175 For more information on Syria, see the Spotlight on the Syria situation. 176 With the onset of the Sudan crisis in 2023, many South Sudanese residing in Sudan were compelled to return to their country of origin due to escalating insecurity and economic challenges. See South Sudan – Border Monitoring Report – February 2025, UNHCR. 177 Almost all returns in 2024 were from the Islamic Republic of Iran (237,500) and Pakistan (126,800). A total of 813,300 Afghans have returned to their home country from Pakistan between September 2023 and December 2024 (see Pakistan-Afghanistan - Returns Emergency Response #26, UNHCR). Total returns refer to all types of returns, including deportations, assisted voluntary repatriation and other returns of Afghans of all statuses in Pakistan, including undocumented Afghans (see the Afghanistan situation overview, UNHCR). 178 The number of refugee returns to Ukraine is estimated using IOM’s “Returns Report — General Population Survey” and “Internal Displacement Report — General Population Survey”, Round 19. The estimated number of refugees who returned from abroad to their place of origin since the start of the war (1,066,000) was added to the estimated number of refugees who returned from abroad but not to their area of origin (355,000). This total was multiplied by the estimated proportion who returned in 2024 according to the GPS Return Report, excluding returnees for less than 3 months (which is the timeframe established in UNHCR’s Position Paper on Returns from Ukraine as indication of the intention of a stable return). This resulted in 14 per cent of total estimated returns from abroad (or 203,000 persons). The breakdown by former country of asylum is based on results from the latest UNHCR Intention Surveys with refugees returnees – see Lives on Hold #6, UNHCR. 179 Returns to South Sudan have been difficult to verify, as they tend to be self-organized, and it can be difficult to reach the areas to which many people return. UNHCR > GLOBAL TRENDS 2024 53