Russia says 114,000 Syrians returned home in 2018

The war has displaced half of Syria's 23 million, including nearly 6 million refugees

Syrian Maya Merhi stands outside a camp in Serjilla in northwestern Syria near the Turkish border, on December 9, 2018. AFP

Nearly 114,000 Syrian refugees have returned home this year, the Russian military said Tuesday, a mere fraction of the nearly 6 million who have fled the country since the start of the seven-year conflict. UN agencies said they need $5.5 billion in the coming year to support Syria's neighbors hosting the refugees.

The UN said Tuesday that Syria's neighbors, Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Egypt and Iraq, are hosting the majority of the Syrian refugees, while dealing with their own economic and social challenges. The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, however, said it has verified only around 37,000 refugees who have voluntarily returned to Syria in 2018.

The agency also said that over the last eight years around 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 [UN agencies and NGO] partners to help shoulder this massive burden, while waiting for voluntary return in safety and dignity," said Amin Awad, the UN refugee agency director for the Middle East and North Africa.

Mr Awad said the UN is projecting that up to 250,000 refugees could be returning to Syria next year if obstacles to their return are removed. Those obstacles include safety concerns for those who have fled government areas or military conscriptions, availability of services and other issues.

Russia, which has waged a military campaign in 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.

The US and other European nations have said return of refugees must be voluntary, saying it is too early in the course of the war 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 Russian Col Gen Mikhail Mizintsev, who added that over 177,000 internally displaced people have also returned to their homes in 2018.

The conflict, which began with a peaceful uprising against Assad in 2011, has displaced half of Syria's 23 million people, including an estimated 5.6 million refugees living in neighbouring countries.

Mr Mizintsev also 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," Mr Mizintsev said. "The US has illegally occupied the territory so it bears full responsibility for conditions in the camp."

_______________

Read more:

Trump signs bill to help religious minorities in Iraq and Syria

Lebanon: Israel border tunnel operation won't endanger calm

Activists claim around 560,0000 killed in Syria since 2011

_______________

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, allegations the US has denied. Jordan closed the border over security concerns. Residents of the nearly 50,000-people camp 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. Mr Mizintsev said Russia and Syria would support another aid convoy to the camp.

In their appeal for funds Tuesday, the UN agencies and partners said they aim in their new plan— Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan to target nine million people across the five host countries in 2019, including up to 3.9 million vulnerable residents of the host communities. The programmes include protection issues for refugees, getting more children to schools and improving basic services and national capacities to respond to the crisis.

Mr Awad of the UNHCR said 70 to 80 per cent of the refugees are living below the poverty line in the host countries.

The Russian general also assailed the US for the failure to solve humanitarian problems in the northern city of Raqqa, once the capital of ISSI's self-styled caliphate. A US-backed offensive drove ISIS out of Raqqa a year ago, but Mr Mizintsev pointed to the failure to clear Raqqa of mines and restore its electricity and water supplies.