08.09.2021 (10:00)

Bulletin of the Centre for Reconciliation of Opposing Sides and Refugee Migration Monitoring in Syrian Arab Republic (September 8, 2021)

Return of Refugees from abroad

Over the past 24 hours, 311 refugees (117 women and 199 children) have returned to the Syrian Arab Republic from the territory of Lebanon through the Jaydet Yabus and Talkalakh checkpoints.

There was no withdrawal of refugees from Jordan through the Nasib checkpoint.

Since July 18, 2018, in total 700,356 Syrians have returned back to their homes from abroad:

from Lebanon - 305,744 people (including: women-89,797, children-152,101), through the checkpoints Jaydet Yabus - 183,018, Tell-Kalah - 115,125, Zemrani - 4,346, al-Dabusiya - 1,834, al-Qusayr - 854;

from Jordan through the checkpoint Nasib – 395,248 people. (women-118,618, children-201,569).

As of August 5, 2021, there are 6,791,032 Syrian refugees in 43 countries (Turkey – 3,696,919, Lebanon – 855,173, Jordan – 665,834, Germany – 595,124, Iraq – 247,044, Egypt – 131,235, the Netherlands – 63,670, Austria – 58,050, Denmark – 35,536, Greece – 58,273, Switzerland – 22,100, Cyprus – 2,602, Belgium – 25,311, Italy – 3,832, Romania – 1,156, Spain – 3,098, Ireland – 450, Bosnia and Herzegovina – 350, Argentina – 392, Malta – 1,115, Poland – 251, Luxembourg – 553, Croatia – 250, Slovenia – 226, Iceland – 50, Bulgaria – 471, Hungary – 27, Slovakia – 12, Czech Republic – 1,320, Great Britain – 17,525, Sweden – 137,152, Canada – 50,117, USA – 21,772, France – 36,050, Norway – 36,113, Brazil – 5,074, Finland – 2,631, Portugal – 753, Lithuania – 544, Albania – 250, Peru – 29, Uruguay – 28, Serbia – 621).

An estimated 1,297,168 Syrians from fifteen countries (Lebanon – 645,128, Turkey – 70,041, Germany – 60,115, Austria – 103, Switzerland – 17, Jordan – 458,021, Iraq – 847, Greece – 30,372, Denmark – 150, the Netherlands – 29,244, Lithuania – 30, Malta – 541, Canada – 2,517, Argentina – 18, Uruguay – 24) expressed a desire to return to their homeland.

Since September 30, 2015, in total 930,272 Syrians have returned back to their homes from abroad (164,630 women, 279,662 children).

Currently, 13 checkpoints are deployed, including:

five on the Syria-Lebanon border (Zemrani, Jaydet-Yabus (Zabadani), al-Sabusiya (al-Aarida), Talkalakh and al-Qusayr (Qusayr));

one on the Syria-Jordan border (Nasib);

five on the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic (Salhiyah, Jleb, Saraqib, Miznaz, Abu Azeidin);

one CP at Damascus international airport;

one CP at Baniyas sea port.

The leadership of Syria is taking active steps aimed at increasing the efficiency of the process of repatriation of Syrian refugees from the territory of foreign states.

Internal Displacement

It is reported that no Syrians returned back to:

There was no withdrawal of refugees through the Salhiyah checkpoint (Deir ez-Zor province). Since August 25, 2018, 100,096 people have returned (including: women-38,473, children-33,771), and 2,482 vehicles have been withdrawn.

There was no withdrawal of refugees through the Jleb checkpoint (Homs province). In total, 24,023 people have returned since February 19, 2019. (women - 6,592, children - 11,365), 1,812 units of equipment were withdrawn.

There was no withdrawal of refugees from the Rukban camp. In total, 20,204 people left the camp since March 23, 2019 (women - 5,749, children - 10,000), 947 units of equipment have been withdrawn.

There was no withdrawal of refugees from the Idlib de-escalation zone. A total of 46,801 people have left the zone since March 4, 2018. (including: women – 15,142, children-21,284), 4,818 units of equipment were withdrawn.

Since January 13, 2020, 1,873 people have left the zone. (including: women-687, children-761), 63 units of equipment were withdrawn.

Total from September 30, 2015 1,367,812 internally displaced persons returned to their places of permanent residence (including: women – 418,309, children-676,811), and 99,216 people since January 1, 2019 (including: women-36,750, children-32,045).

Cities and towns ready to receive refugees

There are 1,502,650 places arranged to receive and accommodate refugees in 413 settlements less affected by the combat actions.

Infrastructure Rehabilitation

The assessment of the state of infrastructure, socially significant objects, and the availability of stocks of construction materials and material resources in Tell-Aran (Aleppo province) and Al-Jiza (Deraa province) was carried out. In order to improve living conditions for Syrians, and to complete infrastructure rehabilitation  it is necessary to supply materials in the following towns:

Tell Aran-dump truck, 10 windows, 5 cubic meters of bricks, 7 cubic meters of cement, 3 tons of construction fittings, 450 kg of finishing materials, 700 m of water pipes, 650 m of electric cable for the restoration of two residential buildings and a water pump station;

Al Jizah – a dump truck, 15 windows, 7 cu m of bricks, 5 cu m of cement, 3 tons of building bars, 1,350kg of lime and filling, 950m of water pipes, 900m of electric cables, to overhaul six houses;

The heads of local self-government bodies sent applications to the Ministry of public works and housing construction to obtain construction materials for the restoration of objects.

Since July 20, 2018, in total, in the Syrian Arab Republic:

993 educational and 257 medical institutions, 4,984 residential buildings, 41.73 km of water supply networks, 13 wells with drinking water were restored; four cultural and leisure facilities; six office buildings; 0.1 km of sidewalk;

six road bridges and 1,836 km (0,2 km per day) of roads were repaired; 1487,64 km of electrical transmission lines were installed;

274 water supply facilities, 326 bakeries, 848 electrical substations, four gas stations, and 14,455 industrial enterprises and 194 lighting devices were put into operation.

Currently, in 345 localities in the provinces of Aleppo, Damascus, Deir ez-Zor, Latakia, Hama, Homs, Deraa, Suwayda, Quneitra and Raqqa, work is underway to restore and repair 2,687 residential buildings, 223 schools, 176 preschool institutions, 239 medical institutions, 209 bakeries, 201 electrical substations, 281 water pumping stations and 89 religious buildings.

Humanitarian and medical assistance 

No humanitarian actions were held over the past day.

In total, 3,020 humanitarian actions were organized and carried out. 5,268.29 tons of food, bottled water and basic necessities were delivered and distributed to Syrian citizens.

Medical specialists of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation did not provide medical assistance to Syrian citizens.

In total, medical specialists provided assistance to 132,874 residents of Syria.

Mine Clearance

Engineering units of the armed forces of the Syrian Arab Republic carried out mine clearance tasks in Douma (Damascus province) Daraa and Usman (Daraa province) during the day.

18,7 hectares of the territory were cleared. They found and defused five explosive devices including two improvised explosive devices.

Total cleared: 4,950.4 hectares of territory, 3,112 buildings (structures), 273.4 km of roads. 43,394 EDs were found and destroyed, including 5,788 IEDs.

Arrangements for Refugee Reception

The government program on restoration settlements liberated from the militants has started in Damascus, Aleppo and Hama provinces. The program includes three stages: preparation of infrastructure (water supply, electrification), targeted assistance to the population, and the return of residents to their places of permanent residence.

The Joint Coordination Committee of the Syrian Arab Republic on the repatriation of refugees carries out social and economic activities to activate the process of infrastructure rehabilitation; all necessary measures are taken to enable refugees and internally displaced persons to return back to their homeland. 

Officers of the Russian Centre for Reconciliation of Opposing Sides held no working meetings to discuss rehabilitation of social infrastructure, and creation of environment favourable for returnees.