Assad’s fall opens window for Syrian refugees to head home − but for many, it won’t be an easy decision

By Kelsey Norman, Fellow for the Middle East, Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University
Ana Martín Gil, Research Manager, Edward P. Djerejian Center for the Middle East, Baker Institute, Rice University

For more than a decade, Syrians have been the world’s largest refugee population.

More than 6 million Syrians have fled the country since 2011, when an uprising against the regime of Bashar Assad transformed into a 13-year civil war. Most ended up in neighboring countries such as Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt, while a sizable minority wound up in Europe. But the…

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