Underfunding Syrian refugees in Lebanon & Turkey after Assad’s fall

The Syrian civil war (2011–2024) created the world’s largest displacement crisis – approximately 14 million Syrians became refugees or were internally displaced. At its height, Middle Eastern countries hosted 5.5 million Syrian refugees. The fall of the Assad regime lifted some barriers for return, but far from all. Meanwhile, regional instability has complicated this. While return to Syria has increased, funding for refugees has practically collapsed in Lebanon and diminished in Turkey. The international donor community must understand the strains this puts on host states’ capacities and how this undermines the concept of “burden sharing”. This policy brief draws on evidence from fieldwork and background interviews in Ankara, Beirut, Brussels, Istanbul and Oslo between 2023 and 2025.