Syrian Foreign Minister Says Refugees' Return Has Nothing to Do With Political Process

DAMASCUS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th September, 2018) The return of Syrian refugees has nothing to do with a political process and Western countries are trying to use the issue against Damascus after failing to change the regime via military means, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem told RT.

Muallem said that while Russia's efforts aimed at assisting Syria in the refugees' return deserved gratitude around the world, Western countries were preventing Syrians from returning to their homes, trying to convince them that their property and lands will be in jeopardy.

"I announce that after the return, there will be security, stability and prosperity in the future ... Conditions for their return are put forward by those who orchestrated the plot against Syria seven and half years ago in order to change the regime.

But they failed to do this via military means. And now they are trying to succeed by using the refugees' return. I tell you openly: there is no connection whatsoever between the refugees' return and a political process," Muallem said in an interview.

He argued that the problem of refugees was humanitarian, while the political process was a political issue.

"And to those who talk about the connection I can say this: those who lost on the battlefield, will not succeed in politics," the minister added.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry's Center for the Reception, Allocation and Accommodation of Refugees, over 244,000 people have already returned to Syria from abroad since September 30, 2015, while more than 1.2 million internally displaced persons returned to their homes over the same period.