Refugees of the Syrian civil war are citizens and permanent residents of Syria who fled the country in the course of the Syrian civil war. The pre-war population of Syria was estimated at 22 million (2017), including permanent residents. Of that number, the United Nations (UN) identified 13.5 million (2016) as displaced persons in need of humanitarian assistance. Since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011 more than six million (2016) were internally displaced, and around five million (2016) crossed into other countries, seeking asylum or placement in Syrian refugee camps. It is believed to be one of the world's largest refugee crises.
Armed revolts started across Syria in 2011 when security forces launched a violent campaign to halt nation-wide protests. This led to the establishment of resistance militias and the outbreak of a civil war. Assaults on civilian areas by the Syrian Armed Forces resulted in the forced displacement of millions of Syrians and a full-blown refugee crisis. The Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP) was established in 2015 as a coordination platform including neighboring countries except Israel. By 2016, various nations had made pledges to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to permanently resettle 170,000 registered refugees. Syrian refugees have contributed to the European migrant crisis, with the UNHCR receiving almost one million asylum applicants in Europe by August 2017. Turkey was the largest host country of registered refugees, with 3.6 million Syrian refugees in 2019, 3.3 million in 2023, and almost 3 million at the time of the Fall of the Assad regime in December 2024.
