Over 600,000 Syrian refugees back home

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Over 600,000 Syrian refugees back home

Fourteen per cent, meanwhile, pointed to the worsening economic situation in their place of refuge, the IOM said.

By AFP

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Published: Mon 14 Aug 2017, 11:22 PM

Last updated: Tue 15 Aug 2017, 1:29 AM

geneva - More than 600,000 displaced Syrians have returned to their homes since the beginning of the year, with most of them heading to Aleppo, according to figures from the International Organisation for Migration.
Between January and the end of July, 602,759 displaced Syrians returned to their homes, many of them citing an improved economic and security situation in the areas they had fled from, the IOM said.
A total of 84 per cent of those who have returned had taken refuge elsewhere within the war-ravaged country, while the remaining 16 per cent returned from neighbouring countries Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq.
More than a quarter of returnees said they did so to protect their assets and properties, while nearly the same number referred to the improved economic situation in their place of origin, and 11 per cent cited the improved security situation there.
Fourteen per cent, meanwhile, pointed to the worsening economic situation in their place of refuge, the IOM said.
But while most of the returns had been spontaneous, it warned they were "not necessarily voluntary, safe or sustainable".
Aleppo Governorate, the scene of the harshest battles of Syria's bloody six-year war, had received 67 per cent of all returnees so far this year, IOM said. Many of those returning must struggle to get bare necessities, with only 41 per cent having access to clean water and 39 per cent with access to health services. This "is dangerously low as the country's infrastructure has been extremely damaged by the conflict," the IOM said.


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