Thousands of Syrian refugees in Turkey who survived last week’s earthquakes are returning to their war-torn homeland after once again losing everything.

Turkish authorities have announced the opening of border crossings for Syrians after the February 6 quakes, which killed tens of thousands of people.

More than 2,000 Syrians have returned home from Turkey in recent weeks, according to border officials.

One Syrian quake survivor was interviewed by local media.

“On the day of the earthquake… the building began to shake violently, and the electricity was cut off, which made us struggle a lot to reach the door of the house because of the darkness,” the man said.

He said stayed for two days sleeping in the cold and rain with his family on nearby farmland. After that, he and about 3,000 other people moved to one of the shelters Turkish authorities opened for survivors who have lost their homes.

“I entered Syria, where I can live with relatives and console my friends who lost family members in the earthquake,” the man said.

Around 460,150 Syrian refugees were registered as living in the southern city of Gaziantep and 354,000 refugees in the city of Hatay as of February 1.

It remains unclear for returning Syrians what they can expect back home.  After the massive quakes struck northern Syria and neighbouring Turkey, the United Nations has acknowledged an international failure to help Syrian quake victims.

And recently, Syrians have become the target of a misinformation campaign accusing them of looting destroyed homes and stealing aid or blaming them as the reason for the quake.

The main driver of the campaign is reportedly Umit Ozdag, a far-right politician who has long pushed to expel Syrians from the country.

Following the quake, he has pushed vitriol-filled messages on social media characterising their presence as a threat to national security has and organised marches to expel Syrians from shelters.

Meanwhile, anti-refugee slogans such as “Syrians are no longer welcome” are proliferating on billboards, in conversations and on television talk shows and social media – resulting is escalating harassment of refugees across the country.

Reports from the port city of Mersin say Syrians at a shelter set up in a girls’ dormitory were kicked out to make way for Turkish citizens. Witness reports said they were bused to the city of Adana, 40 miles away, and dumped on the street.

The quake also hit hard in rebel-held north-western Syria hard, which is home to more than four million people who have faced government air and artillery attacks for years.

Many Syrians in the region have been displaced more than once by the Syrian war, and many live in crowded tent settlements.

The UN’s humanitarian affairs chief, Martin Griffiths said Syrians had been “looking for international help that hasn’t arrived”.

Syria has been carved up into different zones of control during a 12-year civil war that has still not ended. The Bab al-Hawa crossing is administered by a Syrian opposition group that controls part of the country’s northwest.

People returning to Syria will find a country still bearing the scars of war as well as the impact of the quakes.

Formal estimates say about 40,000 families have been left homeless in north-west Syria, but the real figure is likely to be much higher.