But such research was conducted while Assad was still in power, and it has only been several weeks since Assad fell. As a result, it’s unclear how many Syrians will decide to go back. After all, the current government is transitional, and the country is not fully unified.

"Regarding Syria, we are going to decide today to lift, to suspend, certain sanctions that had applied to the energy and transport sectors and to financial institutions that were key to the financial stabilisation of the country," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on arrival at the EU meeting in Brussels.

Astro AWANI's Social Media Editor, Hilal Azmi shares his reflections from the ground in Aleppo, Syria, following the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

European Union foreign ministers on Monday agreed to begin lifting sanctions on Syria, while insisting that the measures should be reimposed if they see any abuses by the country’s new rulers.