The Tents Change Shape

In the camps… we learned how to wait.

How to take shelter beneath a tent that stops neither the rain nor the heat.

Years passed, as we watched the road dreaming of return.

And when the door to return finally opened… we walked through it.

But we did not return to homes only to broken walls, collapsed roofs, and the scattered remains of memory.

We returned… because even ruins feel more merciful than a tent that offers no privacy, no dignity.

We returned… to rebuild brick by brick, hope upon hurt.

But the truth?

The tent never really disappeared.

It just changed shape. Now it sits on rooftops, hides behind garden walls, or clings to the corners of rooms open to the wind.

The tent is still here… because safety is still fragile, and shelter is still incomplete.

On World Refugee Day, we don’t just tell stories of leaving the camps

We tell the story of returning to destroyed homes.

We remind the world that a refugee’s right doesn’t end with going back

It begins when they find a place that honors their humanity.

At SARD, we stand with those who chose to return despite the pain.

Because dignity begins at home.

By Nihad Al-Hassan, SARD Media Assistant

Families in Sheikh Ahmed, like so many across Syria, need long-term investments in infrastructure, basic services, livelihoods, and community life.

This World Refugee Day, help make return possible by urgently supporting the safe and dignified rebuilding of Syrian communities.