Amman, Jul 25 (IANS): A total of 3,162 Syrian refugees left Jordan in the first six months of this year to return to their homeland, marking a 63-per cent increase compared to the same period in 2023, the state media reported.

Citing figures from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the report said on Wednesday that 19,729 Syrian refugees returned from Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, and Iraq to Syria in the first half of 2024.

In 2023, the number of Syrian refugees returning to Syria from other countries was 37,552, compared to 50,966 in 2022, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to official figures, Jordan has hosted over 1.3 million Syrians since the beginning of the Syrian crisis in 2011, with more than 628,000 registered with the UNHCR.

A survey conducted by the UN last year showed that 97 per cent of Syrian refugees in Jordan do not intend to return to their homeland within the next 12 months.