DAMASCUS — A year after Syria's prolonged civil conflict ended with the fall of the Bashar al-Assad government, many Syrian families are finding that while the fighting has ceased, displacement persists.

Across Aleppo and parts of Idlib in northern Syria, families who spent years in camps have begun returning to their hometowns only to find them unrecognizable: flattened, emptied, and lacking the basic infrastructure that gives meaning to the word "return".

In the village of Ain Daqneh, in the northern countryside of Aleppo, entire neighborhoods that once housed hundreds of families have been reduced to collapsed stone walls and tangled concrete.

Yousef Mohammad Deeb, a man in his 40s from Ain Daqneh, shared with Xinhua his experience of returning from a major Syrian refugee settlement near the Turkish border north of Aleppo, after 10 years of displacement.

"When we came here, we saw the destruction. The whole village is demolished, and there is nothing here. There are no houses to live in, and until now, we are still in the camps," he said.

"The good thing is that the war has stopped, but we still don't know what the future holds for us," he added.

Harsh reality

For most refugees and displaced people, returning has revealed a harsh reality: the war may be over, but reconstruction has barely begun. Many are unable to rebuild or even find temporary shelter beyond the tents they once hoped to leave behind.

Mohammad Yassin Ibrahim, also from Ain Daqneh and in his 30s, who likewise spent nearly 10 years in Bab al-Salam camp, told Xinhua that returning is only the beginning, and the road to reconstruction remains incredibly long.

"The infrastructure is destroyed. We hope for help from any side to assist residents in returning by repairing the infrastructure, the schools, the streets, in any way," he said.

Aside from the destroyed homes, local officials said families returning are now confronted with new dangers, such as unexploded ordnance and collapsing buildings.

"After so many years, we were happy that the war, the destruction, and the killing ended, and that we could return to our village. But there's nowhere to live. If we set up a tent, we're afraid for the children because of the tunnels and mines," said Khaled Othman, head of Ain Daqneh.

He added that the economic toll of years of displacement has made rebuilding nearly impossible for ordinary people.

"People can't handle it. After years of displacement, those who once had a good income now have nothing, and some are in debt. With these sky-high costs and living expenses, no one can afford to rebuild their homes," Othman said.

Throughout the village, cracked school walls, shattered electricity poles, and destroyed water networks lay bare the extensive work needed before families can truly return.

Xinhua