Syrian president pledges to close displacement camps by 2027

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa said Monday that his country is committed to closing displacement camps by 2027, in an address to the 79th session of the World Health Assembly, the top decision-making body of the World Health Organization, according to SANA news agency.

“I address you today from Damascus at a moment when the world faces challenges that require a shared international will that places human health at the forefront of priorities and lays the foundation for a safer and more just future,” Sharaa said via video conference.

“Our participation in the 79th session confirms that Syria, as it moves confidently along the path of recovery, is playing a central and effective role in shaping sustainable regional and global health security,” he added.

“As your assembly places the close link between climate change and health at the top of its priorities, Syria’s reconstruction process is laying the groundwork for a sustainable environmental and health reality that protects the security of our future generations,” he said.

“Because human stability is at the heart of sustainability, we have made a national commitment to close the chapter of the camps by 2027,” Sharaa added.

About 1 million displaced Syrians live in tents in northern Syria, spread across 1,150 camps, including 801 in the northwestern city of Idlib and 349 in Aleppo, according to field data.

During Syria’s uprising and civil war from 2011 to 2024, the ousted regime of Bashar Assad displaced millions of civilians inside and outside the country, with some living in camps in the north under harsh conditions.

Sharaa said the goal of closing the camps represents “a practical embodiment of the global action plan on climate and health.”

“The main path to protecting people from climate-related repercussions lies in ensuring their return from fragile environments to stability, safe life and human dignity,” he said.

“Syria is here today to strengthen constructive partnerships based on the exchange of expertise and resources to serve human health, and we extend our hands to make our experience an added value in this shared humanitarian effort,” he added.

“The major challenges we faced, and which we are now steadily overcoming, have given our country resilience that makes it a key pillar in protecting global health security,” Sharaa said.

In December 2024, Assad, who ruled Syria for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia, bringing an end to the Baath Party’s decades of rule that began in 1963. A transitional administration led by Sharaa was formed in January 2025.

*Writing by Lina Altawell in Istanbul