Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoGENEVA / SYRIA UNHCR INTERVIEW
Download
There is no media available to download.
Share
STORY: GENEVA / SYRIA UNHCR INTERVIEW
TRT: 05:33
SOURCE: UNTV CH / UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: CREDIT UNHCR FOOTAGE ON SCREEN
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 26 JANUARY 2026, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
CREDIT UNHCR - 21-23 JANUARY 2026
1. Wide shot, unloading humanitarian aid
26 JANUARY 2026, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Celine Schmitt, spokesperson in Syria, UNHCR:
“What we've seen, and I've been here now in Syria for a year, since January of last year, we've seen nearly 1.4 million refugees returning to Syria, mainly from neighboring countries - from Türkiye, from Lebanon, from Jordan, but also from Iraq and from Egypt. We continue to see refugees returning to Syria. They want to go back. What they are telling us is they want to go back to their country, they want to reunite with their families, they are going back because the reasons that pushed them to flee do not exist anymore. So, we see refugees going back home. We also see people who were internally displaced in Syria going back home. Nearly two million IDPs who have now returned home, who were, you know, mainly in the north, northeast of the country, some living in IDP camps, who are also returning. So, this is what we have seen over the past few years.”
CREDIT UNHCR - 21-23 JANUARY 2026
3. Wide shot, unloading humanitarian aid
26 JANUARY 2026, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Celine Schmitt, spokesperson in Syria, UNHCR:
“Now, what we've seen during the past few weeks is indeed some hostilities, first in Aleppo, in some areas of Aleppo, in Sheikh Maqsood, in Ashrafieh, that have pushed people to flee. So, at some point, you know, we've seen a bit more than 100,000 people who had fled. But from the information we have, nearly 80 per cent of those who were displaced have now returned back.”
CREDIT UNHCR - 21-23 JANUARY 2026
5. Wide shot, unloading humanitarian aid
26 JANUARY 2026, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Celine Schmitt, spokesperson in Syria, UNHCR:
“People have also moved towards the east, and we've seen new displacement due to the hostilities in the northeast of the country. There, too, there are a few tens of thousands of people who are displaced. I can't give you an exact figure, because we don't exactly have the figures also of those who have found refuge in host families, who are living in host families. But people are being displaced there, too. So, you know, as a humanitarian agency, UNHCR, but also the UN more globally, we have been providing, of course, emergency assistance, especially during, you know, these tough weeks of winter. Now, during the harsh winter, it has been snowing, for example, in the northeast of Syria. So we've been providing humanitarian assistance, winter kits, but also protection, you know, which is our core mandate.”
CREDIT UNHCR - 21-23 JANUARY 2026
7. Wide shot, on the way to the Al-Hawl refugee camp
26 JANUARY 2026, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Celine Schmitt, spokesperson in Syria, UNHCR:
“So indeed, together with our representative here in Syria, we went to Al-Hawl last week, some five days ago. And when we arrived immediately, you know, we had the opportunity to engage with the Syrian government forces who were there. And they reassured us of the support they will give to UNHCR and humanitarian actors in order to bring humanitarian assistance to the people in the camp, you know, to respond to the humanitarian assistance. Because during a few days, for example, water, provision of water, water trucking, but also, you know, the provision of bread was suspended. So, it was very important, you know, to be able to start again those activities to respond to the basic needs of the people there, because again, due to the winter as well.”
CREDIT UNHCR - 23 JANUARY 2026, AL-HAWL REFUGEE CAMP
9. Wide shot, on the way to the Al-Hawl refugee camp
26 JANUARY 2026, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Celine Schmitt, spokesperson in Syria, UNHCR:
“So now since three to four days, our UNHCR teams who are on the ground have been back into the camps. Services have started again, so the bread distribution started again, water, you know, trucking started, and other services, you know, health services also by other actors, including, you know, ICRC, who is resuming health activities. Our teams have engaged with the population there, you know, to also exchange with them. What they've told us, indeed, as a priority, is to have access, you know, to those basic services, which is key, because indeed, the majority of the camp's population are women and children.”
RECENT - UNHCR FOOTAGE
11. Wide shot, unloading humanitarian aid
26 JANUARY 2026, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Celine Schmitt, spokesperson in Syria, UNHCR:
“Their second request is also to find solutions, you know, for them. And on that part, we, as UNHCR, have been engaging with the Syrian government now for a few weeks, month, to see, you know, how UNHCR could contribute and work together with the authorities to find solutions. So, what we've done over the past month, for example, is we have helped serious medical cases who were in our role camp to return to their areas of origin. Of course, the security component is led, it's by the authorities, and they have been clearing the cases. So those cases were cleared, security-wise. We help them with other actors, with the UN more globally, not just UNHCR and some NGOs, to organize their transfer home, but then also to help with, you know, their reintegration, because the needs, once they are back home, are huge.”
RECENT - UNHCR FOOTAGE
13. Wide shot, unloading humanitarian aid
“What we've seen is nearly 1.4 million refugees returning to Syria,” said Celine Schmitt, spokesperson in Syria for UNHCR.
Speaking to UN News in Geneva today (26 Jan) Schmitt said the returns have come mainly from neighboring countries, including Türkiye, Lebanon and Jordan, as well as from Iraq and Egypt, with refugees telling UNHCR they want to reunite with their families and go back home.
She said UNHCR and other UN agencies have continued providing emergency assistance during harsh winter conditions, including snowfall in the northeast. “We've been providing humanitarian assistance, winter kits, but also protection,” she said, calling protection UNHCR’s “core mandate.”
Schmitt said she and UNHCR’s representative in Syria visited Al-Hawl camp last week, where they met Syrian government forces. She said authorities reassured humanitarian actors of their support to resume aid deliveries after water trucking and bread distribution had been suspended for several days.
“Our UNHCR teams who are on the ground have been back into the camps,” she said, adding that bread distribution, water trucking and health services have restarted, including support from the ICRC. Schmitt said residents stressed that access to basic services was their top priority, noting that most of the camp’s population are women and children.
She said camp residents also asked for longer-term solutions. Schmitt said UNHCR has been engaging with Syrian authorities to help facilitate returns, including assisting serious medical cases to go back to their areas of origin after security clearance. She said UNHCR and other UN actors are supporting transport and reintegration efforts, warning that “the needs, once they are back home, are huge.”
