Syria’s Displaced Bedouins See Little Hope of Return Amid Sectarian Clashes

Damascus: The southern region of Syria is grappling with a severe humanitarian and social crisis as tens of thousands of Bedouin families remain displaced following deadly sectarian clashes in Sweida province. Once coexisting with the local Druze population for generations, these Bedouin communities now face destroyed homes, fractured livelihoods, and a grim future with little chance of returning to their ancestral lands.

The crisis erupted in mid-July after the kidnapping of a Druze merchant escalated into violent confrontations between Druze militias and Bedouin groups. Over the course of several days, the violence spiraled, resulting in more than 1,000 deaths, predominantly among the Druze, according to monitoring organizations. The clashes forced an estimated 70,000 Bedouins to flee