11 Dec 2018 12:29

Almost 300,000 Syrian refugees return from abroad - Russian military

MOSCOW. Dec 11 (Interfax) - More than 1.5 million Syrian refugees have returned home, according to Russian National Defense Control Center head Lt. Col. Mikhail Mizintsev.

"As of today, over 1,550,009 Syrian citizens, including more than 1,259,731 internally displaced persons and more than 290,278 refugees who fled the country, have returned home," Mizintsev said at a meeting of the Russian-Syrian interagency taskforce promoting the return of Syrian refugees.

More than 291,311 Syrians, including 177,369 from other parts of the country and 113,942 from foreign states, have returned to their pre-war homes since the beginning of this year, he said.

Most refugees are crossing the Lebanese and Jordanian borders; more than 31,000 have passed through the Nasib checkpoint from Jordan since the refugee-return initiative began, Mizintsev said.