CALLS FOR SYRIAN REFUGEES TO RETURN HOME FALL ON DEAF EARS
▶ The UN says it needs $5.5 billion to help countries that took in people fleeing the civil war
The US and European countries believe it is too early to encourage refugees to go back home to Syria
Almost 114,000 Syrian refugees returned home this year, the Russian military said on Tuesday, a small fraction of the nearly 6 million who fled the country since the start of the seven-year conflict.
UN agencies said they needed $5.5 billion (Dh20.2bn) in the coming year to support Syria’s neighbours that are hosting the refugees.
The UN said on Tuesday that Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Egypt and Iraq have taken most of the refugees while dealing with their own economic and social challenges.
But the UN refugee agency said it verified only about 37,000 refugees who voluntarily returned to Syria this year.
It said that over the past eight years about one million Syrian children were born in the region and registered as refugees.
“It is critical that the international community continues to recognise the plight of Syrian refugees and provides vital support to host governments and partners to help shoulder this massive burden, while waiting for voluntary return in safety and dignity,” said Amin Awad, the UN agency’s Mena director.
Mr Awad said the UN forecast that up to 250,000 refugees could return to Syria next year if obstacles to their return – including safety concerns for those who have fled government areas or military conscriptions – were removed.
Russia, which has waged a military campaign from 2015 in support of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, has pushed for the repatriation of refugees.
Russian and Syrian officials have accused western governments of blocking the return of refugees and reconstruction aid to Syria.
But the US and European nations have said the return of refugees must be voluntary and that it was too early to encourage refugees to go home.
Some say an inclusive political process is a prerequisite for reconstruction funding.
The repatriations demonstrate that “the war is over and the country’s restoration is proceeding at full pace”, said Gen Mikhail Mizintsev, the head of Russia’s Defence Control Centre.
Gen Mizintsev said that more than 177,000 internally displaced people returned to their homes this year.
The conflict displaced half of Syria’s 23 million people, including an estimated 5.6 million refugees living in neighbouring countries.
Gen Mizintsev criticised the US for failing to ensure delivery of aid to a desert camp for displaced Syrians in Tanf, in southern Syria near the Jordanian and Iraqi borders.
“It’s the last bulwark of evil, injustice and horror for simple Syrians created by the US,” he said. “The US has illegally occupied the territory so it bears full responsibility for conditions in the camp.”
The Syrian government and Russia have blamed US troops stationed near the Rukban camp near the border with Jordan for failing to provide security for aid shipments, claims the US has denied.
Jordan closed the border over security concerns.
The almost 50,000 people in Rukban complain of major shortages. One resident said water, which comes from a well in Jordan, has not reached the camp for days because of a malfunction.
Last month, the UN and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent organised a desperately needed aid delivery to Rukban. Gen Mizintsev said Russia and Syria would support another aid convoy to the camp.
In its appeal for funds on Tuesday, the UN agencies and partners said they aimed in their Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan to focus on nine million people across the five host countries next year, including up to 3.9 million vulnerable residents of the host communities.
The programmes include protection for refugees, getting more children to school and improving basic services and countries’ ability to respond to the crisis.
Mr Awad said up to 80 per cent of refugees were living below the poverty line in the host countries.