Damascus, Syria– The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said on Saturday that about 200,000 refugees have returned to Syria from neighboring countries since the overthrow of the government of Bashar al -Assad last month.
This flow comes after the return of an estimated 300,000 refugees from Lebanon at the end of last year when it was under the bombing during the war between Israel and Hezbollah.
Many of those who fled during the uprising that turned into a civil war in the country for nearly 14 years of return soon.
However, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, warned during a visit to Damascus during which he met with the new actual leader of Syria, Ahmed Al -Shara, that many returnees may not remain unless the living conditions in the country improved.
“In order to make this return sustainable and to make life better for all Syrians, the economy needs to return, and services must be restored and re -provided, and security must be guaranteed, and housing must be the subject of a very important reconstruction program.” Grande said.
He called for the lifting of Western sanctions on the country, many of which targeted the Assad government, but has not been lifted since its fall on December 8 as a result of a kidnapped attack by the rebels.
Grande said: “The sanctions are a big obstacle to the return of the refugees.
There are more than 4.7 million refugees registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in neighboring countries. The largest number is present in Türkiye, about 2.9 million, followed by Lebanon, with more than 755 thousand.
Grande said that in addition to the returning refugees, about 600,000 of the seven million Syrian displaced people returned to their homes.
Some of these returns may be controversial. The Kurdish authorities in the northeast of the country are preparing to release some Syrian detainees in the sprawling horror camp that includes members of the families of suspects to be members of ISIS, allowing them to return to their original areas.
While there are fears that some of these people still belong to the extremist ideology of the Islamic State, Grande said: “If the Syrians who have been displaced for a long time in the northeast of the country have the opportunity to return to their homes in other parts of the country, this is welcome.”
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The writer of the Associated Press Abe Cyoil in Beirut contributed to this report.
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2025-01-25 21:18:00
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