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“The focus must now be on rebuilding” Syria, according to President Putin, who confirmed his country’s participation with the largest delegation at a refugee conference in Damascus. It is not yet clear who else is participating in it, while Al-Assad said the return of refugees is a “priority.”
Through a video call with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed on Monday (November 9, 2020) that the return of refugees to Syria is necessary to rebuild the country, two days before holding an international conference on Syrian refugees.
Damascus, with the support of Russia, is organizing a conference on Wednesday and Thursday (November 11 and 12) on the return of refugees to Syria, as well as internally displaced persons to their homes in the country. It is not yet clear who participates in it. However, neighboring Lebanon will send the Minister of Social Affairs as representative. The United Nations Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria, Omran Reda, will attend the conference as an “observer”.
Putin said: “There are more than 6.5 million refugees outside Syria, most of them are citizens who can work and can participate in the reconstruction of their country,” according to a copy of the dialogue on the Kremlin.
Russia has been seeking for years to obtain the support of the international community to begin the reconstruction phase and the return of refugees, while donors link any aid to reach a political solution to the conflict.
Putin said in the dialogue that Syria must now focus on rebuilding, while the country’s extremist groups have been largely defeated. He added that “Russia supports holding an international conference on refugees, and the Russian delegation will be one of the largest delegations to participate.” He added: “More than 850,000 Syrians have returned from abroad and more than 1.3 million have returned to their places of permanent residence within the country.”
Al-Assad: the return of refugees is a priority
For his part, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad stressed that the Syrian government considers the return of refugees a priority. He said: “The Syrian government is not only ready, but is also eager to release these results to see the return of the largest number of them (refugees) in the coming months.”
The Syrian president added: “For us in Syria, we have high hopes at this conference that it will produce practical results,” according to the Syrian News Agency (SANA).
Al-Assad considered that the “greatest obstacle” to the return of the refugees “besides the persistence of terrorism in some areas to which they are supposed to return (…) is the siege of Syria”, referring to the sanctions imposed by Western countries on your country, led by the United States.
He commented on Russian efforts in terms of “the possibility of easing, lifting or eliminating this blockade”, and explained that the return of the refugees “needs to ensure the basic necessities necessary for their livelihood, such as water, electricity, schools … in addition on the subject of moving the economy. “
Will Turkey participate in the conference?
Human rights organizations warn that the cessation of battles in various areas of Syria does not mean that they are now ready for the return of refugees in light of their lack of infrastructure and services, and they express their fear of human rights violations. .
For its part, Lebanon said it would send Acting Minister of Social Affairs Ramzi Musharafieh to the conference. Lebanon is home to more than one million Syrian refugees, most of whom live in informal camps. Meanwhile, Jordan hosts some 650,000 Syrian refugees registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
It is unclear whether Turkey will participate in the conference. Ankara is home to the largest number of Syrian refugees, about 3.7 million, and supports certain Syrian opposition groups.
PMC / HD (DPA, AFP)
