DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – The return of the Syrian immigrants made headlines along with news of the normalization between Syria and Turkey and the severe living conditions in the areas held by the Syrian government following the historic collapse of the Syrian pound.
The most asked question in the Syrian government areas was: Can the Syrian government provide services for the returning immigrants back to the devastated areas while it is unable to secure the basic services for the people already present in its regions?
Circulated figures show that there are five million Syrians in the neighboring countries. In Turkey, there are more than three and a half million Syrians, and over one and a half million in Lebanon. The figures become less in other neighboring countries but there are no statistics of the people living in the Syrian government areas so far.
These numbers require a great deal of assistance and support.
No funding for reconstruction
Reconstruction phase has not started yet. Statistics show that no less than 215.000 houses have been destroyed in the government-held areas.
It is estimated that the reconstruction in Syria requires at least 400 billion US dollars. A German expert told North Press that so far there are no signs of assistance from European and Gulf countries for reconstruction and that western countries stipulate reaching a political solution in Syria to pay funds for reconstruction.
The expert who preferred to stay anonymous lay down many reasons of which the most important is that the Syrian government should operate differently on finding ways to deal with the issue of reconstruction.
A few number of Syrians want to return to their country regardless of the harsh living conditions lived by most especially in camps.
However, the majority fears returning to Syria not only for security reasons but also for the major lack of services in the inhabited areas not to mention the devastated ones.
No Coercion
Human rights organizations warned of a forced return of the Syrians especially from Turkey. Field reports show that 50.000 people returned to Syria from Turkey through Bab al-Hawa border crossing in Idlib Governorate, Bab al-Salameh border crossing in Aleppo Governorate, and Tel Abyad border crossing in Raqqa Governorate in 2022.
Syrian government officials justify that the economic siege, loss of oil revenues, and importation challenges are the causes of the bad condition of services.
The Syrian Ministry of Electricity clarified in its most recent statement that Damascus Governorate needs 1.300 MW of electricity, while only 400 MW is available. Syria produces 3.000 MW while it needs 10.000 MW.
The long outage of electricity deeply affects all aspects of life including telecommunications. There is always a problem with network coverage and disconnection of the internet due to long outage of electricity.
This goes for other services as well, such as water, poor road network, transportation, and daily needs.
Unable to provide services
An economic expert based in Damascus told North Press that in the short term Syria is unable to provide services for returning immigrants whether in great or small numbers.
He suggested providing indirect services such as encouraging the returnees to rebuild their workshops and factories so that they can start producing in their home country and providing facilitations for exportation especially since trade will resume between Syria and Turkey in case there is a reconciliation.