UN urges investment in Syria as 1.6M return, warns lack of services may deter returns

UN officials on Thursday called for urgent international investment in Syria as more than 1.6 million refugees returned to the country, warning that those who have the intention to return might “not return at all” without adequate services, Anadolu reports. “Last year, more than 1.6 million people returned to Syria to reconstruct their country, to come back to the country which they left, often in dramatic circumstances,” Alexander de Croo, administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), told reporters during a virtual briefing during his visit to Syria. He stressed that Syrians face increased needs in housing, government services, and jobs following a devastating war waged by the ousted regime of Bashar al-Assad that lasted 14 years, from 2011 […]