A worsening picture of the migrant crisis is coming into focus as the world sees an increase in the numbers of immigrants trying to reach Europe. But added to that picture is the growing number of Syrian refugees in exile in host countries, such as Jordan, who are now opting to return to their war-torn country.
“We stopped getting any aid,” said 47-year-old Adnan, waiting at the U.N.-run Zaatari refugee camp in northern Jordan. He was there to sign up his family for the return bus to the Syrian border, about 10 kilometers (6 miles) away. The U.N. refugee agency is viewing these returns with growing concerns, but with no funding, there’s not much that can be done, reports the Associated Press on Monday.
Fox News reported that Andrew Harper, the head of the U.N. refugee agency in Jordan said, “It is a dangerous choice for people to make.” Most of those returning are women and children, and Harper said this “signals a failure of the international protection regime.”
Over four million Syrians have fled the war-torn country since the start of the civil war five years ago, and over 240,000 people have died. Most have settled in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, living in urban areas. They are banned from working and live on aid and the occasional odd job.
But in September, according to Digital Journal, the U.N.’s Cash-strapped World Food Program sent out a text message to Syrian refugees in Jordan, telling them the agency was cutting out food rations. With no major donors coming forward, there was little else the agency could do.
At the same time the text message went out, British Prime Minister David Cameron was visiting refugee camps in Lebanon and Jordan, promising an extra 100 million pounds ($153 million, 137 million euros) in British aid for Syrian refugees.
The return of refugees to Syria
Little has been reported on the numbers of refugees that for various reasons, return to their homeland. For some, it is homesickness, while others return to be with family members that were unable to leave. But the last two or three months have seen people going home out of desperation. With no food vouchers and no money for rent and other essentials, many refugees see no other option but to go back to Syria.
On Monday, António Guterres, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees addressed the 66th session of the U.N. Executive Committee. In his remarks, he brought the growing refugee crisis into perspective. He pointed out that in the past, UN aid agencies have been able to deal with international crises one-on-one. But in the past 10 years, the ” nature of conflict has grown highly complex. One of the consequences has been a shrinking of humanitarian space, which has made the work of organizations like UNHCR much more difficult and hazardous.”
Guterres cited the decrease in funding as being one factor in the increasing numbers of people trying to get into Europe. He also touched on the feelings of helplessness of those whose are now without aid, saying “many refugees feel that the international community could be starting to abandon them.”
Over 94,000 Syrian refugees left Turkey for Syria this past year, about half returning to Kobani, a Turkish official says. In Lebanon, the number of refugees in 2015 dropped by 140,000. No one knows where they have gone. But be sure of this, a return to Syria from the three host countries is a one-way ticket. Multiple border crossings are not permitted.
