Akram Mahmoud al-Shehada, a returning Syrian refugee, tends to flowering shrubs near the rubble of his destroyed house in Qabr Fiddah, Hama province, central Syria, on June 19, 2025. After 14 years of displacement in Jordan, al-Shehada returned earlier this year to the ruins of his village, Qabr Fiddah, near Qalaat al-Madiq in Syria's central Hama province. His stone house, built brick by brick over decades of labor, was flattened during the war. Yet instead of despair, he chose to stay and start over. (Str/Xinhua)

by Hummam Sheikh Ali

HAMA, Syria, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Perched among the rubble of his former home in the Hama countryside, 66-year-old Akram Mahmoud al-Shehada sits quietly, shaded only by a makeshift tent stitched together with tarpaulin and cloth. It's not much, but for him, it's home.

After 14 years of displacement in Jordan, al-Shehada returned earlier this year to the ruins of his village, Qabr Fiddah, near Qalaat al-Madiq in Syria's central Hama province. His stone house, built brick by brick over decades of labor, was flattened during the war. Yet instead of despair, he chose to stay and start over.

"There is no decision more painful than leaving your home, the place you built with your own hands," said al-Shehada, his voice breaking from stress. "But we had no choice."

Al-Shehada, a retired schoolteacher with five sons and a daughter, fled Syria in 2013 after violence reached his second place of refuge, the eastern Salamiyah countryside in rural Hama. After years of hardship in Amman, he and his eldest son came back with hope for peace and dignity in their homeland.

But upon returning, the devastation he found shocked him.

"I expected damage, but not this. Nothing is left. No water, no electricity, no clinics, no schools. Just ruins," he said.

Once a teacher for 30 years, al-Shehada now lives with no access to public services. "If a child gets sick, I don't know where to go," he said, glancing at the horizon stretching over parched farmland and scorched cement blocks.

Al-Shehada's story reflects the struggle of millions of Syrians hoping to return to their homeland after years in exile. According to the UN refugee agency, Syria remains one of the world's largest displacement crises, with over 6.1 million people still living as refugees abroad and many more internally displaced.

Despite the hardship, al-Shehada insists he will not leave again.

"Even worms crawl inside at night, but I won't leave again. I've had enough displacement for a lifetime," he said. "I may be living in a tent, but I'm on my land, in my village, in my country. I am content."

He dreams of a rebuilt Syria, of restored schools, working clinics, flowing water, and returning families. "We need help," he said. "But more than anything, we need hope. I believe Syria will rise again."

Other returnees like al-Shehada continue to face conditions far from dignified or sustainable. According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), an independent Britain-based organization founded in 2011 to monitor human rights violations in Syria, widespread destruction, the absence of public services, and a lack of government support remain the primary barriers to return for millions of displaced Syrians.

On World Refugee Day, which falls on June 20 annually, the SNHR reported that 500,000 refugees and 1.2 million internally displaced persons have returned home since December 2024, with most finding ruined infrastructure, high reconstruction costs, and no national reintegration programs.

"The government must provide support to help rebuild homes, restore services, and give people a real chance to live again," the report stated.

The SNHR report noted that, even with international pledges, only 12 percent of the funding needed to support returnees has been fulfilled, leaving families like al-Shehada's to face impossible odds without help.

The network called for a national recovery plan backed by the international community to ensure safe and voluntary refurgee return, which prioritizes justice, infrastructure, and dignity -- all things still out of reach for many Syrians living among the rubble.

Filippo Grandi, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, said Friday that despite ongoing turmoil, signs of hope are emerging in Syria.

"Even in these turbulent times, there are moments of profound hope," Grandi said during a visit to Syria marking World Refugee Day.

"In a region that has suffered so much violence -- and suffers even now -- we are nonetheless presented with an opportunity to help Syrians achieve stability and prosperity. We must not let it pass by," he said. ■

Photo taken on June 19, 2025 shows rubble of a destroyed house and a makeshift tent erected by Akram Mahmoud al-Shehada, a returning Syrian refugee, in Qabr Fiddah, Hama province, central Syria. After 14 years of displacement in Jordan, al-Shehada returned earlier this year to the ruins of his village, Qabr Fiddah, near Qalaat al-Madiq in Syria's central Hama province. His stone house, built brick by brick over decades of labor, was flattened during the war. Yet instead of despair, he chose to stay and start over. (Str/Xinhua)

Akram Mahmoud al-Shehada, a returning Syrian refugee, sits among the rubble of his destroyed house in Qabr Fiddah, Hama province, central Syria, on June 19, 2025. After 14 years of displacement in Jordan, al-Shehada returned earlier this year to the ruins of his village, Qabr Fiddah, near Qalaat al-Madiq in Syria's central Hama province. His stone house, built brick by brick over decades of labor, was flattened during the war. Yet instead of despair, he chose to stay and start over. (Str/Xinhua)

Akram Mahmoud al-Shehada, a returning Syrian refugee, stands in front of the rubble of his destroyed house in Qabr Fiddah, Hama province, central Syria, on June 19, 2025. After 14 years of displacement in Jordan, al-Shehada returned earlier this year to the ruins of his village, Qabr Fiddah, near Qalaat al-Madiq in Syria's central Hama province. His stone house, built brick by brick over decades of labor, was flattened during the war. Yet instead of despair, he chose to stay and start over. (Str/Xinhua)

Akram Mahmoud al-Shehada, a returning Syrian refugee, lifts a concrete block from the rubble of his destroyed house in Qabr Fiddah, Hama province, central Syria, on June 19, 2025. After 14 years of displacement in Jordan, al-Shehada returned earlier this year to the ruins of his village, Qabr Fiddah, near Qalaat al-Madiq in Syria's central Hama province. His stone house, built brick by brick over decades of labor, was flattened during the war. Yet instead of despair, he chose to stay and start over. (Str/Xinhua)