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Thousands of Syrians start returning to Daraya: State media, Moscow wants a million
[AlAhram] Thousands of Syrians began returning to Daraya on Tuesday, state media said, for the first time since government forces clawed back the Damascus suburb from rebels two years ago.The town was one of the major centres of the uprising against  Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs... and suffered massive damage during the fighting, forcing most of its people to leave. Assad's military and its allies regained control of Daraya after years of bitter siege and bombing. Many who did not want to live under state rule left along with rebel fighters under a surrender deal in August 2016. Civilians and fighters who feared state rule were bussed out to turban territory in the north, while others - who most likely are those now returning to the town - were displaced to government territory around the capital. Displaced people were returning after Daraya was "purged of remnants of the gunnies and the main services were reinstated", state TV said. State news agency SANA showed pictures of crowds gathering under large government flags and photos of Assad. Behind them, rows of buildings, their windows blown out, appeared pitted with shellholes and showed heavy damage from fighting. Damascus has described local agreements - accept state rule or leave - as a "workable model to bring security and peace" after more than seven years of war. It says it seeks to restore territory from forces of Evil so Syrians can return to their hometowns The opposition to Assad however says the deals amount to a policy of forced displacement that aims to shore up his rule. The United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... aid chief, Stephen O'Brien, voiced "extreme concern" over the Daraya evacuation at the time it went ahead. But since then several such withdrawal deals have been struck helping the government recapture major cities across Syria. The conflict has killed hundreds of thousands of people since 2011 and made nearly 11 million Syrians homeless. Hundreds of thousands of people have poured into Syria's northwest corner, the last remaining turban stronghold, forced to abandon their homes elsewhere in the country. Another 1 million refugees can return to Syria: Moscow [Rudaw] Russian reconstruction efforts have made it possible for a million Syrian refugees to return from camps in ...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund.... , Jordan, and Leb, according to Moscow’s defence minister. "Since 2015, when towns and villages gradually started to be freed, more than one million people have returned home," Sergei Shoigu said in comments reported by Russian news agencies, according to AFP. "Now every opportunity has been created for the return of roughly one million (more) refugees," he told journalists. "Huge infrastructure reconstruction work is ongoing, the rebuilding of transport routes and security points so that Syria can begin accepting refugees." Russia intervened in Syria’s civil war in 2015 in support of Bashir al-Assad. Its military support proved to be a game-changer, helping regime forces retake almost every part of the country from ISIS and opposition groups. Idlib remains the last province in rebel hands. The Kurdish provinces of northern Syria and parts of oil-rich Deir ez-Zor meanwhile are held by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). ISIS remnants maintain desert holdouts near the Iraqi border. Turkey controls pockets of territory along its border, including the Kurdish canton of Afrin, and outposts in Idlib. Almost half of Syria’s pre-war population has been displaced, provoking the biggest refugee crisis since World War II. More than 350,000 people have been killed since the 2011 uprising. The UN has warned nations hosting Syrian refugees not to force them to return against their will, fearing the volatile security situation could leave them vulnerable to attack or repression. In exchange for its military assistance, Russia has been able to establish a significant naval presence on Syria’s Mediterranean coast. Posted by: trailing wife 2018-08-29 |
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