Returning refugees can help rebuild Syria
The time has come for the international community to support the Syrian government and its people in their economic and social reconstruction efforts. This will help the Syrian people recover from the emotional wounds inflicted on them since the past eight years and also create opportunities that will attract the return of refugees and internally displaced persons.
Now that Daesh has finally been defeated, many regions in Syria are completely safe for the creation of secure ‘de-escalation zones’. The United Nations must, of course, talk with the Syrian government to secure guarantees for these refugees and make sure that no harm can occur to them and that they will be placed in good and healthy living conditions. This is especially so with the vulnerable —women, the elderly and children.
The Syrian government must also reassure the young men who are afraid to go back fearing conscription. In this regard, it could announce and secure the establishment of an amnesty and a suspension of military conscription for a period of two years.
However, coordination between the Syrian government and the host countries is important to facilitate the safe return of the refugees.
Until now refugees, especially those living in the neighbouring countries, have been faced with two options, either to be trapped in the host countries that no longer can afford them or their economic burden or to travel illegally to Europe or other western countries, a trip that will not guarantee their safe arrival. Faced with social difficulties, some host countries such as Lebanon and Jordan have already raised the alarm.
On several occasions,
Lebanese President, Michel
Aoun has reiterated his refusal to see the issue of the return of Syrian refugees in
Lebanon be linked to a political solution in Syria.
With a population of about four million, Lebanon hosts the greatest concentration of refugees per capita in the world (more than 40 per cent of the demographic mass of Lebanon). This has created an overwhelming pressure on the country’s utilities and stability. Nearly 2.5 million refugees from Syria, Iraq and Palestine have found refuge in Lebanon.
The Lebanese cannot but fear for the future of its people, not just economically for at the back of their minds is the fear that it was the Palestinian presence in Lebanon that destabilised the country back in 1975 leading to a civil war that lasted 15 years.
Since the beginning of the Syrian war, the refugees as well as the Lebanese population have been suffering even as the economy was reeling under the pressure of the ongoing war. Due to corruption, bad management and the influx of the Syrian refugees, the Lebanese public debt has risen to over 150 per cent of GDP, which is unsustainable as per the International Monetary Fund. Last year, the Lebanese President warned that unemployment has reached 46 per cent, the situation has deteriorated since for both Lebanese and Syrian refugees. As much as 70 per cent of the refugees in Lebanon live below the poverty line and are in debt of an average that varies between $700 to $900 per household.
For several months, Lebanon has, in coordination with the Syrian government, organised the return of refugees on a voluntary basis. According to officials, since July 2018, 90,000 refugees have returned safely from Lebanon to Syria. As the proverb says “Home is where the heart is” and the hearts of millions of Syrian refugees remain in their homeland. And it’s now time to help them return to their home.
The Lebanese cannot but fear for the future of its people, for at the back of their minds is the fear that it was the Palestinian presence in Lebanon that destabilised the country back in 1975