QAH, Syria, May 17 (Xinhua) -- In Qah village, located in Syria's Idlib province, dozens of Syrian families were loading their few belongings onto trucks and pickups for a journey back to their hometown in Tremseh, Hama province, leaving behind the dusty expanse of the Li Ajlina displacement camp, where they have lived for more than a decade.
On Friday, 100 families set out in what is likely the final convoy from the larger Qah refugee camp. Once home to 400 families, the internal displacement camp now shelters only about 30, following two mass departures in the past month.
With mattresses lashed atop refrigerators, gas stoves precariously balanced on plastic crates, and children clutching buckets or their siblings, the families embarked on a return journey, with a daunting task of rebuilding lives they were forced to abandon.
Akram Deeb Al-Hussein, a man in his 60s, stood beside an overloaded pickup truck, awaiting departure.
"We came here in 2012 after the civil war forced us from our homes. We lived on dirt floors inside tents, and the suffering was unbearable," he said. "Now we return with a lump in our hearts because nothing is left in our town. No homes. No life."
The displaced families' return was facilitated by humanitarian initiatives offering free trips to their original villages. Tremseh, like many other areas ravaged by unrest since 2011, bears the scars of war. Although large-scale hostilities have ceased, the destruction remains overwhelming there.
Yasser Abu Zaid, a father in his 50s who arrived in the camp 13 years ago, recalled nights in flooding tents and the constant threat of snake bites that kept families on edge.
"We have endured immense suffering," he said. "Now we're returning to rubble. More than half of the houses are either completely destroyed or in desperate need of repair."
Scenes of people departing the camp unfolded like stories or photographs capturing years of hardship.
At one point, two girls stood beside a crumbling wall as their family was loading rusted bed frames and household items onto a worn truck. At another, a line of vehicles snaked down a main road under the expansive blue sky, each piled high with personal belongings, iron bars, and carpets.
Despite the joy of returning, the challenges they face are immense. There are no functioning schools, no medical clinics, and limited access to clean water or electricity.
"Had it not been for the support from humanitarian groups, we would never have been able to leave," Al-Hussein lamented. "We couldn't even afford the road fare. Life in the camps was harsh, but what lies ahead is just as uncertain."
Although many camps across northern Idlib still house thousands of displaced people, the near-complete evacuation of the Li Ajlina camp offers a glimpse of return, not just of people, but of a profound longing for home, no matter how broken it may be.
