Скачать или смотреть UNHCR chief says many Syrian returnees may not stay in the country

(25 Jan 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Damascus, Syria - 25 January 2025
1. SOUNDBITE (English) Filippo Grandi, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees:
“In the country, in order to make this return sustainable and, may I say, to make life better for all Syrians, the economy needs to restart, services need to be restored and reinstated, security needs to be guaranteed, and housing needs to be the subject of a very important reconstruction program. So there's a lot beyond what humanitarian agencies can do. This is why we're already talking to development organizations. This, of course, is based on the assumption that the trajectory here will continue to be a positive one, as it is now.”
++BLACK FRAMES++
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Filippo Grandi, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees:
“If sanctions are lifted, this will improve the conditions in the places also where people return. It would be an additional factor to encourage people to return. Why? It's simple, because to invest in services, in infrastructure, to invest in the economy, to create jobs, sanctions make it impossible. Sanctions were created for another situation, so they have to be reviewed and hopefully lifted. So, I'm not the person doing that. I told Mr. (Syria's de facto leader Ahmed) Sharaa, but I agree with him sanctions are an important obstacle at the moment for the return of refugees."
++BLACK FRAMES++
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Filippo Grandi, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees:
"We need a U.N. plan. We need an international plan for recovery so that all donors can channel resources in a coordinated manner under the leadership of the authorities to support their efforts."
++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++
STORYLINE:
The United Nations refugee chief said Saturday that some 200-thousand refugees have returned to Syria from neighboring countries since the government of Bashar Assad was overthrown last month, but many returnees may not stay in the country.

The influx comes after an estimated 300-thousand refugees returned from Lebanon late last year while it was under bombardment during the Israel-Hezbollah war.

Many more who had fled during the country's nearly 14-year uprising-turned-civil war are thinking about going back soon.

However, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi cautioned during a visit to Damascus during which he met with Syria's new de facto leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, that many of the returnees may not stay unless living conditions in the country improve.

“In order to make this return sustainable and to make life better for all Syrians the economy needs to return, services need to be restored and reinstated, security needs to be guaranteed and housing needs to be the subject of a very important reconstruction program,” said Grandi.

He called for the lifting of western sanctions on the country, many of which targeted Assad's government but have not been removed since it fell on December 8 as the result of a lightning rebel offensive.

“Sanctions are an important obstacle for the return of refugees,” Grandi said.

There are more than 4.7 million refugees registered with the U.N. refugee agency, or UNHCR in neighbouring countries. The largest number are in Turkey, with nearly 2.9 million, followed by Lebanon, with more than 755-thousand.

In addition to returning refugees, some 600-thousand out of an estimated seven million internally displaced Syrians have gone home, Grandi said.

AP Video by Omar Albam

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