UNHCR reports drop in global displacement as millions of refugees return home

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said the number of people displaced worldwide fell for the first time in a decade in 2025, while the total of refugees and persons in similar situations rose to 41.6 million. About 14.7 million displaced persons returned to their home countries, a 50 % increase and the second‑largest return figure since 1965. Returns were concentrated in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Syria, Afghanistan, Ukraine and Myanmar.

Afghanistan saw roughly 2.9 million people return, including 1.9 million refugees – five times the previous year’s figure – driven by stricter policies in neighboring Iran and Pakistan, cutting the global Afghan refugee population from 5.8 million in 2024 to 3.7 million in 2025. Syria recorded about 1.3 million returns, almost three times the prior year, after the fall of Bashar al‑Assad’s government in December 2024, reducing Syrian refugees worldwide from 6 million to 4.9 million.

Many returnees confront severe challenges such as limited access to basic services, damaged infrastructure, ongoing insecurity, weak economies and sporadic violence. Additional displacement includes roughly 3.2 million people temporarily relocated to Iran after joint U.S.–Israeli strikes in February and around one million forced from homes in Lebanon since early March amid Israeli attacks and evacuation orders.

UNHCR aims to halve the number of people in protracted displacement by 2035, promoting voluntary returns and expanding job and education opportunities in low‑ and middle‑income host nations. High Commissioner Barham Salih warned that “asylum and protection save lives, but we cannot accept a future where millions remain trapped for years without realistic prospects for rebuilding their lives.”