Damascus talks focus on refugees' return

DAMASCUS－Syrian and Lebanese officials met in the Syrian capital Damascus on Monday to discuss ways to facilitate the return of Syrian refugees.

Syrian Minister of Local Administration and Environment Hussein Makhlouf held a meeting with visiting Lebanese Minister of the Displaced Issam Charafeddine, during which they discussed measures taken by Syria to secure a safe and quick return for the refugees based on a timeline set by both countries, reported Syrian state news agency SANA.

"Lebanon and Syria agree on the necessity to facilitate the return of all refugees to their homeland, not just 15,000 monthly, as stated in the plan presented by the Lebanese side," Makhlouf told a joint news conference with the Lebanese minister.

The Syrian government has pledged to secure basic services including transportation, accommodation, medical care and education for all Syrian refugees who want to come back, Makhlouf said.

He said the Syrian army has restored security and stability to large swathes of territories over the past few years, and the Syrian government has so far enabled the return of 4 million internally displaced people and 1 million overseas Syrian refugees.

He also called on United Nations organizations to be "an active partner in the return of the displaced, especially when Syria is open to cooperation with Lebanon and others to facilitate the return of all the displaced".

"We discussed our plan in detail with Syrian authorities who expressed readiness to receive all refugees, pledging to provide them with needed facilities," reported Lebanon's National News Agency, citing Charafeddine.

Lebanese officials intend to visit Syria soon to further coordinate the return of refugees with Syrian authorities, he added.

Lebanon is hosting the largest number of refugees per capita, with the government estimating 1.5 million Syrian refugees, 880,000 of whom are registered with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, whose representative in Lebanon rejected the country's plan, citing Syria is not safe for returning refugees.

Xinhua - Agencies