Conditions for dignified and voluntary return to Syria not available-EU
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut, the Head of the EU Delegation to Turkey, said on Monday that conditions in Syria don’t help for a large-scale return of Syrian refugees, referring to statements by the Turkish officials to return more than one million Syrian refugees in Turkey.
During the celebration of Europe Day, which was held in the Turkish capital, Ankara, Landrut spoke about the issue of Syrian refugees in Turkey, which the latter intends to return them to Syria, according to what was reported by the Turkish NKA news agency.
“We all will be happy if Syrian refugees go back to their country in a dignified voluntary manner under auspices of the UN,” he said
“We hope that this moment will come. Today, not all conditions are united for big-scale return,” he added.
“ but we will rely on the judgments of the UN, UNHCR, which is the agency would mostly assess such conditions,” according to Landrut.
On May 3, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that preparations were underway for “a new project that would allow the voluntary return of one million of Syrians, whom we host in our country, to the safe areas in northern Syria.”
On Thursday, the Turkish Interior Minister Suleiman Soylu revealed Turkey’s intention to build about 250,000 homes in northern Syria, as part of his country’s plan to return Syrian refugees.
On Monday, the US Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas Greenfield, met with representatives of Syrian civil society and humanitarian organizations on the sidelines of the Sixth Brussels Conference in Support of Syria and the Region.
During the meeting, the US ambassador said that the return of refugees to Syria must be safe, dignified and voluntary, and that such conditions do not exist at the present time.