Netherlands, Ireland Barely Contribute To Helping Syrian Refugees Return Home - Moscow

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Netherlands, Ireland Barely Contribute to Helping Syrian Refugees Return Home - Moscow

The governments of the Netherlands, Ireland and Poland do not make active efforts to facilitate the return of Syrian refugees, Russian Foreign Ministry representative Nikolay Burtsev said Wednesday.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th August, 2018) The governments of the Netherlands, Ireland and Poland do not make active efforts to facilitate the return of Syrian refugees, Russian Foreign Ministry representative Nikolay Burtsev said Wednesday.

"According to the information from the Russian Embassy in the Netherlands, the government of the country does not take active measures to facilitate repatriation of the Syrian refugees, citing the absence of necessary conditions for safety and decent life in Syria," Burtsev said at a meeting of the Russian interdepartmental coordination headquarters on the return of refugees to Syria.

According to Burtsev, the Russian mission sent a note to the Dutch Foreign Ministry with an offer to cooperate on helping Syrians return home on a voluntary basis with necessary safety guarantees. The Syrian government was ready to tackle issues related to confirmation of property rights papers, recovery of lost documents and humanitarian assistance, the representative added.

"The Irish Foreign Ministry confirmed that Dublin supported the common European stand on the issue," Burtsev said, adding that the Russian mission was also working with the Polish authorities to "find common grounds" in the question of Syrian refugees.

Earlier in the week, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said that it was premature to talk about a mass refugee repatriation program in Syria as the country remained volatile but pledged UN support for those voluntarily returning to Syria.

Syria is gradually recovering from the seven-year conflict. Russia actively supports the refugees voluntary return and assists the Syrian government in reconstructing the infrastructure and providing humanitarian aid. According to the Russian Defense Ministry's latest estimates, up to 300,000 Syrians have returned to the country from abroad over the past 2.5 years, while more than 1.7 million Syrians in nine countries have expressed their desire to return to their homes.