Russia's initiative to return of Syrian refugees to their homeland is premature, since the entire infrastructure of the country was still completely destroyed, Swedish Ambassador to Moscow Peter Ericson told Sputnik in an interview.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th September, 2018) Russia's initiative to return of Syrian refugees to their homeland is premature, since the entire infrastructure of the country was still completely destroyed, Swedish Ambassador to Moscow Peter Ericson told Sputnik in an interview.
"We have a lot of Syrian refugees. If they want to return to their homeland, they are free to do so. There is still fighting underway in Idlib, and if you look at the pictures of Homs, it looks like a lunar landscape. So, where should they go? I do not understand what these initiatives are, if everything is destroyed (hospitals, schools, houses)? It is premature," the ambassador said, commenting on Russia's initiative to facilitate the return of refugees.
Syria has been devastated by years of violent civil war which has prompted millions of people to flee to places in Syria where there were no hostilities or outside the country. Lebanon has taken in over 1 million Syrian refugees over the last several years.
The Russian Center for the Reception, Allocation and Accommodation of Refugees was created in late July as part of Moscow's efforts to aid Syria in transitioning to peace.
In early August, a joint meeting of the Russian refugee return center and the Coordination Committee for the Return of Syrian Refugees created by local authorities took place in Damascus. It noted that the Syrian refugees were returning to their homeland from neighboring countries like Lebanon and Jordan. In particular, since July 18, more than 6,300 refugees have returned from Lebanon, and 318 people have arrived from Jordan through the Nasib checkpoint.
According to the Russian refugee return center, more than 1.7 million Syrian refugees from nine countries have expressed their desire to return home.
