Baladi - Agencies
A senior Russian official on Thursday urged Syrian refugees to return to Syria where he said they faced no threat from Assad’s government or the Syrian security apparatus.
Alexander Lavrentyev, Russia’s Syria envoy, also said the Syrian government was not able to provide much financial help to returnees and urged foreign donors to provide assistance, saying the issue should not be politicized.
The United Nations says that conditions for returns to Syria are not yet fulfilled, more than seven years into a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people since spiraling out of an uprising against Assad’s rule.
While some refugees are trickling back, many Syrians who fled the country fear persecution by the Assad government.
Russia, whose military has helped Assad defeat insurgents across much of Syria, last week declared it had set up a refugee center in Syria to help refugees return.
Source: Reuters