Damascus Says 'Opening Doors' For Safe Return of Refugees

Arab World

September 29th, 6:42am

Ali Barda, Sawssan Abu Hussein - New York, Cairo

Syrian refugee children at an informal refugee camp in the area of Zahrani, south of the Lebanese capital Beirut, on July 9, 2015 (AFP Photo/Joseph Eid)

Syria prevailed Saturday on a series of positions and activities held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meetings in New York. While Syria’s constitutional committee will meet in Geneva, Switzerland on Oct. 30 to write a new constitution following more than eight years of war, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al-Moalem invited millions of Syrian refugees to return to their homeland. “We have made it clear that the doors are open for the voluntary and safe return of all Syrian refugees to their homeland. To that end, the Syrian Government is providing the necessary facilities, rebuilding and rehabilitating the public infrastructure in areas liberated from terrorists,” Moallem said at the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Saturday. Several Syria neighboring countries, such as Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan, consider the case of refugees as thorny, due to the burden imposed by those refugees on the host countries, at the economic and social levels. And while several pro-opposition refugees fear to return to Syria under the regime of Bashar Assad, several observers believe that their presence outside the country would help produce a demographic change in Syria. On Saturday, Moallem said that Western and some countries of destination for refugees continue to obstruct the return of refugees, who are used as leverage to serve their political agendas. “This is truly reminiscent of the theater of the absurd. What is happening, however, is no laughing matter; It is a manipulation of the fate of nations and a cheap exploitation of their suffering,” he said. Meanwhile, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said there should not be any kind of tolerance in dealing with countries that support terrorism and terrorist groups in Syria.  During a meeting with UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen on Saturday on the sidelines of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, Shoukry said terrorism and extremist organizations in Syria, as well as the infiltration of foreign fighters into Syrian lands should be confronted.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1923571/damascus-says-opening-doors-safe-return-refugees