Surge in returns among displaced Syrians: UN

GENEVA: An estimated 750,000 internally displaced Syrians returned to their homes through the first half of 2018, nearly equal the amount for all of last year, the United Nations said yesterday, reports AFP.

The returns have largely occurred in areas that government forces have clawed back from opposition groups including Aleppo, Homs and Rural Damascus, the UN refugee agency said in a statement.

The rate of returns this year has clearly outpaced that of 2017, when an estimated 760,000 people went back to homes they had been forced to flee.

UNHCR said that in 2017 it had “ramped up its capacity inside Syria” in anticipation that larger numbers of internally displaced people (IDPs) would head home to certain areas as the dynamics of the Syrian conflict changed.

The spike in returns came as record numbers were displaced elsewhere.

Last month, the UN’s humanitarian office in Syria said that the first four months of 2018 saw 920,000 people forced from their homes, the highest level in the seven-year conflict.

That movement was triggered by escalations in fighting in the former rebel bastion of Eastern Ghouta and within the northwestern province of Idlib, the main bastion of Syria’s insurgents.

More than six million Syrians remain displaced within Syria, while 5.6 million are living outside the country as refugees.

UNHCR said a mere 13,000 refugees returned to Syria through the first half of this year. Another AFP report adds: Buses were gathering on Friday in a southwestern sliver of Syria near the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights to transfer rebel fighters and civilians to opposition territory further north, a monitor said.

The transfers come under a surrender deal agreed this week between Russia and Syrian rebels in Quneitra province that will see the sensitive zone fall back under state control.

Rebels will hand over territory they control in Quneitra and the neighbouring buffer zone with the Israeli-occupied Golan, a war monitor and a rebel source told AFP.

The deal included safe passage to northern Syria for any hardliners who refuse to live under government control, and buses began entering the area Friday to carry out the transfers, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

“The buses reached government-controlled territory in Quneitra on Thursday, and today they began crossing into opposition areas for the evacuation,” said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.

He said it remained unclear how many fighters and civilians would ultimately be evacuated, but that the buses would likely be picking up people from multiple locations in Quneitra and the adjacent buffer.

A rebel source told AFP that the evacuations were expected to begin around mid-morning on Friday.

Quneitra is a thin, crescent-shaped province wedged between the buffer to the west and the Syrian province of Daraa to its east.

 

Surge in returns among displaced Syrians: UN

GENEVA: An estimated 750,000 internally displaced Syrians returned to their homes through the first half of 2018, nearly equal the amount for all of last year, the United Nations said yesterday, reports AFP. The returns have largely occurred in areas that government forces have clawed back from opposition groups including Aleppo, Homs and Rural Damascus, the UN refugee agency said in a statement. The rate of returns this year has clearly outpaced that of 2017, when an estimated 760,000 people went back to homes they had been forced to flee. UNHCR said that in 2017 it had ramped up its capacity inside Syria in anticipation that larger numbers of internally displaced people (IDPs) would head home to certain areas as the dynamics of the Syrian conflict changed. The spike in returns came as record numbers were displaced elsewhere. Last month, the UNs humanitarian office in Syria said that the first four months of 2018 saw 920,000 people forced from their homes, the highest level in the seven-year conflict. That movement was triggered by escalations in fighting in the former rebel bastion of Eastern Ghouta and within the northwestern province of Idlib, the main bastion of Syrias insurgents. More than six million Syrians remain displaced within Syria, while 5.6 million are living outside the country as refugees. UNHCR said a mere 13,000 refugees returned to Syria through the first half of this year. Another AFP report adds: Buses were gathering on Friday in a southwestern sliver of Syria near the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights to transfer rebel fighters and civilians to opposition territory further north, a monitor said. The transfers come under a surrender deal agreed this week between Russia and Syrian rebels in Quneitra province that will see the sensitive zone fall back under state control. Rebels will hand over territory they control in Quneitra and the neighbouring buffer zone with the Israeli-occupied Golan, a war monitor and a rebel source told AFP. The deal included safe passage to northern Syria for any hardliners who refuse to live under government control, and buses began entering the area Friday to carry out the transfers, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The buses reached government-controlled territory in Quneitra on Thursday, and today they began crossing into opposition areas for the evacuation, said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman. He said it remained unclear how many fighters and civilians would ultimately be evacuated, but that the buses would likely be picking up people from multiple locations in Quneitra and the adjacent buffer. A rebel source told AFP that the evacuations were expected to begin around mid-morning on Friday. Quneitra is a thin, crescent-shaped province wedged between the buffer to the west and the Syrian province of Daraa to its east.