Up to 250,000 Syrian refugees could return to their homeland in 2019, while many others face problems with documentation and property that the Damascus government must help resolve, the U.N. refugee agency said Tuesday.
Some 5.6 million Syrian refugees remain in neighboring countries - Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Iraq- Amin Awad, UNHCR director for the Middle East and North Africa, told a news briefing in Geneva. Some 37,000 have returned this year, UNHCR figures show.
"We are forecasting in this phase up to 250,000 Syrians going back in 2019. That figure can go up and down according to the pace with which we are working and removing these obstacles to return," Awad said.
The Russian military meanwhile said that nearly 114,000 Syrian refugees have returned from abroad this year.
Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev, speaking at a session of the headquarters of Russia and Syria on the repatriation of refugees in Moscow, said that the main flow of refugees returning to Syria goes through the borders with Lebanon and Jordan, according to TASS news agency. Over 31,000 Syrians returned via the Nasib border crossing since it was opened in October.
He also said that over 177,000 internally displaced people have also returned home this year.
"The war is over and the country's restoration is proceeding at full pace," he said.
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