Published : 20-08-2022
Syria is not safe yet for millions of refugees to start going back home, a Canadian minister cautioned during a visit to Lebanon on Wednesday.
He spoke days after Lebanese officials announced a plan to start returning 15,000 Syrian refugees to their war-shattered country every month.
The remarks by Harjit Sajjan, Canada's minister of international development, followed his tour of the region that also took him to Jordan, where he visited Syria refugees living in tent settlements.
On Monday, Syria’s Minister of Local Administration Hussein Makhlouf said Syrian refugees in Lebanon can start returning home, pledging they will get all the help they need from authorities.
However, the U.N. refugee agency and rights groups oppose involuntary repatriation to Syria, saying the practice risks endangering the returning refugees. Human rights groups have said that some Syria refugees who returned home were detained.
“It is very, very important to make sure that there is an absolute safe environment where they can return to,” Sajjan said in an interview with The Associated Press. “Clearly, right now, based on our assessments Syria is not a safe place for people to return.”
The calls for the return of Syrian refugees have increased in Lebanon since its economic downturn began in late 2019, leaving three-quarters of Lebanese living in poverty. For Palestinian refugees who fled war-torn Syria, living conditions have become much worse.
Syria is not safe yet for millions of refugees to start going back home, a Canadian minister cautioned during a visit to Lebanon on Wednesday.
He spoke days after Lebanese officials announced a plan to start returning 15,000 Syrian refugees to their war-shattered country every month.
The remarks by Harjit Sajjan, Canada's minister of international development, followed his tour of the region that also took him to Jordan, where he visited Syria refugees living in tent settlements.
On Monday, Syria’s Minister of Local Administration Hussein Makhlouf said Syrian refugees in Lebanon can start returning home, pledging they will get all the help they need from authorities.
However, the U.N. refugee agency and rights groups oppose involuntary repatriation to Syria, saying the practice risks endangering the returning refugees. Human rights groups have said that some Syria refugees who returned home were detained.
“It is very, very important to make sure that there is an absolute safe environment where they can return to,” Sajjan said in an interview with The Associated Press. “Clearly, right now, based on our assessments Syria is not a safe place for people to return.”
The calls for the return of Syrian refugees have increased in Lebanon since its economic downturn began in late 2019, leaving three-quarters of Lebanese living in poverty. For Palestinian refugees who fled war-torn Syria, living conditions have become much worse.
