Some Syrians are going home a year after the fall of Assad. Others are cautious about a one

At the Öncüpınar border crossing in southern Turkey, tables, chairs and sofas are piled high on the back of trucks lined up behind a gate. On the back of one sits a precariously strapped washing machine.

When the crossing arm lifts up, the trucks loaded with belongings drive forward toward the Syrian side of the border.

Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s brutal regime last year, Turkish officials say more than 500,000 Syrians have returned home after living under temporary protection status for several years in Turkey. For many of those travelling now, their crossing is a one-way trip — once they leave they have no immediate option to return legally to Turkey.

"We have a lot of excitement. We want to go," said 25-year-old Hussein Alsheikh Mohamad. "We want our country to rise up."

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