As the Syrian Army moves closer to regaining control over the last remaining militant-occupied areas, a growing number of refugees are returning to begin rebuilding their lives. RT asked some of them why they are coming home.
Between January and October of last year, 700,000 Syrians returned home from abroad, according to UN data.
One man whos already moved back to Aleppo told RT that normality was returning to the city as infrastructure and utilities were being repaired after more than seven years of civil war.
“We opened a shop here,” he said, upon his familys return to the city. “Thank God the electricity is back and life went back to normal again.”
Another man making the trip from Lebanon by bus said theyre thinking of moving back because its become safer.
“Thank God safety and security are back in Syria and Zebiadani. Now we are hopefully returning home,” he said.
Lebanon hosts over one million registered refugees from Syria, with the government suggesting the actual number could be as high at 1.5 million. Unable to work, and facing reluctance by the Lebanese government to set up formalized camps for Syrians, many have longed to return home.
“As for why I am going back… There is no place like home. We were not happy here [in the camp],” the returning Syrian said.
READ MORE: UKs tiny number of Syrian Christian refugees sparks backlash against UN
While there is an estimated seven million Syrians still living abroad, at least 1.5 million have expressed a desire to return home, according to data gathered by the Russian Ministry of Defense. This is in contrast with claims in Western mainstream media implying that all Syrian refugees would not want to go back home unless Syrian President Bashar Assad was removed from power.
Instead, the people who fled war seem to be preoccupied with having a better life and education for their children, something their places of refuge can hardly offer. One man currently residing in Jordan said that he wanted his family to return to Syria because of his daughter growing up.
“We want to go back. We want to return to our beloved Syria. I want my daughter to have a future, she doesnt have it here,” he said.
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