715,000 displaced Syrians have returned home in 2017

By Ilker Girit

ISTANBUL (AA) - Nearly 715,000 internally displaced Syrians have returned to their places of origin within the country between January and October 2017, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Tuesday.

The IOM figures released on its website also showed that among those who returned home, about 38,000 were displaced again.

Although about 96 percent returned to their homes, many proved to be "damaged and in need of extensive repair", the IOM said in a statement.

It also reported that 25 percent of returnees stated the need to protect assets and properties as their reason for coming back home. In addition, 20 percent said they had noticed an improvement of the security situation once they were back home.

While returnees are settling in areas devastated by close to seven years of conflict, about half of those have reported a lack of access to clean water, food, and healthcare, the IOM added.

Syria has remained locked in a vicious civil war since 2011. Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed by the conflict and millions more displaced, according to UN figures.