World needs to do more to help Syrians rebuild lives, says Norwegian Refugee Council chief

Jan Egeland calls for investment to help displaced people return home

Jan Egeland, left, visits a Syrian family that the Norwegian Refugee Council is helping to rebuild their home. Photo: Norwegian Refugee Council

The head of the Norwegian Refugee Council has called on the international community to provide “investment and incentive” that would help Syrians displaced by nearly 14 years of civil war to rebuild their lives.

The end of the war in December last year, when president Bashar Al Assad was toppled, has presented a “historic opportunity”, the refugee council's secretary general Jan Egeland told The National.

At least two million displaced Syrians and refugees are returning to extremely difficult conditions, with most homes damaged or destroyed, and widespread devastation in rural areas.

In July, the Norwegian Refugee Council said even basic services, such medical facilities and schools, were lacking in some areas where Syrians have returned home. That is coupled with the pervasive fear across the country of unexploded ordnance left over from the war.

The challenges include damaged infrastructure and limited resources for reintegration to help people rebuild their lives and communities.

“I cannot underline enough, we have a historic opportunity to help people return home,” Mr Egeland said. “Many Ukrainians cannot go back to their war-torn regions, the Sudanese cannot go back to places that are full of turmoil, but Syrians can return home.

“So why on Earth is there not more of an investment and incentive from the international community to invest in Syria, and also investment in the rebuilding process?”

The Mehin Camp in Syria's Idlib province houses people displaced from the Mehin area of Homs. Photo: Norwegian Refugee Council

The cost of the country's reconstruction has been estimated at between $250 billion and $400 billion.

“I ask, where are the development donors from Europe, from North America and from the Gulf countries, because I don't see [any] trace of them,” Mr Egeland said.

“I just see desperate people in rubble and I see people still in refugee camps, people who want to go home staying in the camps as they have no homes or money.”

According to the UN, more than half of Syria's population remains displaced and 90 per cent lives below the poverty line. Last year, 16.7 million people in Syria – 75 per cent of the population – required humanitarian assistance.

Mr Egeland said the Syrian government has prioritised the return of internally displaced people, followed by those living in camps and neighbouring countries.

He said Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al Shibani had told him he “is appealing to the international community, and I think [Syria] had expected more funding earlier, given the very warm welcome they got in December”.

The Norwegian Refugee Council has given small grants to some residents to start rebuilding their lives and businesses, Mr Egeland said.

“We give house rehabilitation grants of $400 so people were able to make their homes liveable again, and we were able to give a business grant of $2,000 to a tailor,” he said.

“The tailor had his shop bombed and with the money he could buy five modern sewing machines and other equipment. Now he has employed five other returnees, and they all have a good living. It's relatively small sums,” he said.

Access to Sweida

Mr Egeland also called for greater access to the southern Syrian province of Sweida, where the main city has been under siege since clashes erupted last month.

Although aid deliveries have increased over the past 10 days, the province needs more, he said.

Tensions are still high in Sweida, a majority Druze province where sectarian violence has left hundreds dead and laid bare the government’s struggles to unite the country. It began when local factions from the Druze sect clashed with Bedouin tribal fighters in mid-July.

Syria's government sent in troops to quell the fighting shortly afterwards, but the clashes intensified, killing more than 1,000 people. Since then, Sweida has been surrounded by government troops and auxiliaries. Despite a ceasefire being agreed within days, nearly 200,000 people fled their homes as intermittent clashes continued over the last month.

The violence has prevented aid groups from making regular deliveries to Sweida. Agencies say they need a stable ceasefire and permanent calm to reach residents directly. Government forces encircled the area amid a fragile truce, and Druze leaders accused Damascus of barring most humanitarian aid from entering.

The situation in Sweida is still “very tense”, Mr Egeland said.

He said the refugee council had prepared a shipment of emergency relief, in co-ordination with the UN and other agencies, but was awaiting permission from authorities before sending it out of its warehouses in Syria.

“We've tried to get aid into the southern province for the last three weeks,” he said. He added that he was hopeful the delivery would be made in the next few days.

Sweida residents “need everything that displaced people need”, he added. “People fled from their homes without anything. So they need emergency relief – more than anything they need protection and safety.

“I brought up with the Foreign Minister Asaad Al Shibani that we need swift clearance for aid to all communities and across Syria. And he said, yes, that is their aim, and they will set up a good system for that.”

Mr Egeland said he hopes there will be no further outbreaks of fighting in the country.

“We really urge a reconciliation effort so that there is no more violence in this area nor in the coastal cities,” he said, referring to clashes in March between government and allied forces and fighters loyal to the Assad regime. Hundreds of members of the former president's minority Alawite community were killed.