Damascus-SANA
The Syrian and Russian coordinating bodies for the return of the displaced Syrians affirmed that the return of the displaced Syrians to their areas liberated from terrorism is a national priority for the Syrian state, which is making every effort to rebuild the important infrastructure in the country and create job opportunities for the returning Syrians.
In a joint statement of the two bodies, Syria and Russia affirmed the necessity of reconstruction and liquidation of terrorist hotbeds and remnants, in parallel with the efforts made by the Syrian state to secure what is necessary for the returning displaced Syrians.
The statement added that “in the context of implementing the decisions taken in the year 2020 in the context of the work of the international conference related to the return of the displaced and the reconstruction of Syria, as well as in the development of bilateral relations between Syria and Russia, work is being done to develop cooperation between ministries and official Syrian and Russian bodies at various levels. The work carried out by the joint Russian ministerial delegation to Syria, during which humanitarian aid was provided in the amount of one million test strips for the Corona virus, two hundred and fifty thousand “Sputnik Light” vaccines, and more than one hundred and sixty tons of other materials.
The statement added that, “also, with the efforts of representatives of the Institute for the History of Material Civilization of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Directorate of Antiquities and Syrian Museums, an important work was launched in the study and preservation of the sites of the world’s cultural heritage on Syrian territory. Among these world monuments are destroyed, for example, and ancient Christian temples in the pre-Islamic era.” .
The statement pointed out that “Syrian and Russian official bodies signed 15 agreements and memoranda of understanding on the basic directions of Syrian-Russian cooperation, and it is planned that ten more agreements will be signed soon in the areas of legal cooperation, network security, customs union, economic and commercial cooperation and educational work, which opens new horizons for strengthening partnership at the level of The state and at the level of official bodies for the good and prosperity of Syria and its people.”
In their statement, the two bodies stated that the progress achieved by the Syrian and Russian states for the return of the displaced Syrians took place “in light of continuous opposition to the return of the displaced to Syria by Western countries, which still take a non-constructive position and work to mislead world public opinion on the pretext that the appropriate conditions for the return of the displaced have not yet been achieved.” .
The statement stressed that the obstacles to the return of the displaced to their liberated areas are still "the approach followed by Western countries in adopting the policy of sanctions against Syria and the restrictive measures that are extended annually, which curb the process of rebuilding the country and limit the citizens' ability to secure their basic needs, in addition to the occupation and the illegal presence of forces." Foreign affairs on Syrian territory and the public politicization of purely humanitarian issues, aiming to distinguish the areas under the control of the Syrian state in terms of providing humanitarian aid, refusing to help restore public infrastructure, returning the displaced, polishing the image of terrorists, and seeking to maintain and expand the border crossings mechanism for a long time, which constitutes a clear violation of the law and principles International”.
The statement stressed the need to “stop politicizing the humanitarian aid process for Syria and lift the sanctions that have harmed the Syrian economy and deprived the Syrians of achieving self-sufficiency, and called on the international community and humanitarian institutions of the United Nations and the countries hosting the displaced Syrians to participate actively in the process of returning Syrian citizens to their homeland and to help effective humanity for the Syrian state.”
