Thousands of Syrian refugees in Erbil on Monday celebrated the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in front of the Erbil Citadel and thanked the Kurdistan Region for hosting them.

In addition to Syrian flags, the Syrians raised the Kurdistan Region flag out of gratitude.

“Thank you, thank you, Kurdistan,” the Syrian refugees shouted. Some of them also were carrying pictures of President Masoud Barzani.

Read More: Majority of Refugees Reside in Kurdistan Region: UNHCR

According to Human Rights Watch, Iraq hosts approximately 280,000 registered Syrians, with the vast majority of them in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, both in camps and outside them.

The majority are Kurds who fled Syria between 2012 and 2013.

In the last few years, however, thousands of non-Kurdish Syrians came to the Kurdistan Region fleeing mandatory military service, especially after Lebanon started to deport Syrian refugees.

⁠The Kurdistan Regional Government in March said it hosts 900,467 displaced individuals, consisting of 631,174 internally displaced persons from inside Iraq, including Yezidis, and 269,293 refugees from Syria, Iran, and Turkey.

Read More: KRG Spends Millions on Refugee Support Amid Budget Crisis

In the 2023 return intention survey conducted by the UN Refugee Agency, 94% of Syrian refugees in Iraq indicated that they did not intend to return in the next 12 months.

When asked about their reasons, the majority noted concerns about the lack of safety and security, and the lack of economic opportunity in Syria. Other important concerns included inadequate basic services, the lack of suitable housing, and the risk of conscription.

With the al-Assad regime gone, a number of Syrians celebrating in Erbil now expressed their wish to return to their home country, AFP reported.