UN refugee agency chief insists that the return of refugees should be doing so only voluntarily and safely after Bashar al-Assad’s fall.
“Patience and vigilance will be necessary hoping that events on the ground will evolve in a positive manner such that informed, voluntary, safe, and sustainable returns will finally be a reality,” Grandi said.
The exiled former president of Syria fell from power on Sunday in a lightning offensive by opposition fighters that culminated in the over half-a-century-long al-Assad family rule following 13 years of war.
The war has killed hundreds of thousands and created millions of others fleeing from Syria, thus redefining the European refugee crisis. Most of them declared innocence asylum in Europe incidences fearing return persecution from the al-Assad regime.
