The US State Department said on Saturday that the conference on the return of Syrian refugees, held in Damascus this week, was "mere theatrics" and accused Russia and the Syrian government of "superficial support" for refugees
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th November, 2020) The US State Department said on Saturday that the conference on the return of Syrian refugees, held in Damascus this week, was "mere theatrics" and accused Russia and the Syrian government of "superficial support" for refugees.
"The refugee conference hosted November 11-12 in Damascus by the [Syrian President Bashar] Assad regime and Russia was not a credible attempt to create the conditions necessary for voluntary and safe refugee returns to Syria. The lack of support for this conference beyond the regime's narrow group of allies demonstrates that the world recognizes stunts like this one for what they are - mere theatrics," Cale Brown, the deputy spokesperson of the state department, said in a press release.
The International Conference on the Return of Refugees in Damascus aimed to relay information about the situation in Syria to the global audience, in addition to discussing the challenges faced by Syrian authorities in reconstructing the country and returning refugees to their homeland. Delegations from 27 countries, including Russia, and representatives of 12 international organizations participated in the event.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry has said that the conference was successful, despite attempts by the West to disrupt the event. Moscow has slammed Washington's refusal to participate in the Damascus forum as "double standards."
