From Damascus on Friday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, called on the international community to increase its support for Syria to accelerate reconstruction and enable more refugees to return to their country after 14 years of devastating conflict.
"I am here to launch an appeal to the international community to provide more support and assistance to the Syrian government in this major challenge related to the country's recovery," Grandi told reporters on the sidelines of his visit to Damascus.
Since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad's regime on December 8, Syrians have gradually begun to return to their areas, both inside and outside Syria, particularly from neighboring countries such as Lebanon and Turkey. However, the extent of the destruction and the dilapidated or unavailable infrastructure are preventing large numbers of additional refugees from returning.
According to Grandi, approximately two million people have returned to their areas of origin in Syria so far. He explained that "of these, approximately 1.5 million internally displaced persons have returned to their homes, and a significant number of 600,000 are Syrians who were refugees in neighboring countries such as Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, and others and have returned to their country."
He added that this number "represents a small fraction of the large number of Syrian refugees and displaced persons, but the number itself is significant."
According to the UNHCR, approximately 13.5 million Syrians remain refugees or displaced.
Grandi noted that "the main obstacle to return remains the lack of services, housing, and job opportunities," adding that UNHCR is working "with governments in the region, neighboring countries, and the authorities in Syria to help people return."
Grandi believed that the most important thing is "achieving sustainability in the return of Syrians," adding that he discussed this with Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Sheibani during their meeting in Damascus on Friday.
He said, "We had a long and useful meeting, and we mainly discussed this issue: how to ensure that the return of Syrian refugees and displaced persons is sustainable, so that they are not forced to flee again due to a lack of housing, work, or electricity."
He added, "We discussed the importance of linking return and reconstruction and ways to encourage donors to allocate more resources to achieve this sustainability."
He explained that "this sustainability can only be achieved if there is genuine recovery and reconstruction in Syria, not only for the benefit of returnees but for all Syrians."
Grande pointed to "the extent of the destruction of infrastructure and homes, the power and electricity outages, and the fragility of health and education services," stating that "all of this requires a genuine recovery process for return to be possible and sustainable."
The conflict, which began in 2011 following the authorities' suppression of popular protests against the Assad family's rule, has displaced nearly half of Syria's population both inside and outside the country. The majority of the displaced have sought refuge in camps in Idlib in the northwest and its surrounding areas.
The new Syrian authorities, led by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, are working to accelerate economic recovery following the lifting of Western sanctions in preparation for the start of the reconstruction phase, which the United Nations estimates will cost more than $400 billion.
UNHCR: Syria needs greater support to accelerate return and reconstruction
