The Syrian civil war, which began in 2011, displaced over 13 million people. Since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, almost 3 million have returned home.

The NGO has now been granted permission to open an office in Syria. It will offer assistance to those displaced within the country and to those returning home after prolonged periods as refugees.

Bercin Yigitaslan, the organisation's Country Director of Türkiye, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria, said the current humanitarian situation in Syria remains "extremely serious."

"An estimated 16.5 million people are in need of humanitarian aid, making international support essential to help people recover from the long-lasting impacts of the civil war," he said.

Yigitaslan said completing the registration process is an important step for the ERC and it will help the agency strengthen its presence and expand humanitarian assistance on the ground.

"Our experience with digital solutions allows us to reach people in the most remote and hard-to-reach communities with cash-based aid. At the same time, we are focusing on partnerships with local actors to ensure our assistance reaches as many people as possible," he added.

In a statement, the agency said the situation in Syria remains critical: healthcare and education systems are non-functional, there are severe shortages of food and water, and most of the population lives in poverty.

Destroyed homes, damaged infrastructure, economic collapse, and sanctions have left much of the population dependent on humanitarian aid, while many areas remain insecure.

The ERC has been involved in regional support for Syrian refugees since 2018. It has provided long-term assistance to Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon and has previously responded to the 2023 earthquake in Turkey and Syria, as well as the 2020 explosion in Beirut.

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