Returning home after the uprising
Thousands of Syrians have already left Turkey
A week ago on Sunday, a rebel alliance led by Islamists took power in Syria. In many countries around the world, Syrians who had fled the Assad regime celebrated the fall of the long-term ruler. Many of them have apparently made their way home. By Saturday, the Turkish government had already counted 7500 Syrian citizens who had left Turkey.
More than 1,000 Syrians had crossed the border every day up to and including Friday, according to Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya.
Turkey had taken in the most refugees from Syria worldwide; according to UN figures, around three million are still living in the country. If they leave for Syria, the refugees forfeit their right of residence and cannot return to Turkey for the time being.
Migration expert: many will stay
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had come under domestic political pressure because of the refugees in the country and wants the majority to return. According to migration researcher Murat Erdogan, however, the majority will remain in Turkey.
He cites the poor economic situation and insecurity in Syria as reasons for this. In addition, many Syrians have built a new life for themselves in Turkey.
Aid workers warn of "millions" of landmines and explosive devices
Those who have returned home so far not only face destruction and an uncertain political situation, but also a deadly danger in the form of landmines. The British aid organization Halo Trust is therefore calling for international efforts to clear the many landmines in Syria and make the country safer.
"Returning Syrians simply don't know where the landmines are and are waiting. They are scattered across fields, villages and towns, so people are at terrible risk," Halo Trust said on Sunday. There are currently "millions" of landmines and unexploded ordnance and cluster munitions in Syria.
Damian O'Brien, who heads the Halo Trust's Syria program, said he had never seen anything like Syria. "Tens of thousands pass through heavily mined areas every day, leading to unnecessary fatalities."
Pupils return to their classrooms
Nevertheless, something like normal everyday life is slowly returning. On Sunday, almost all of the country's schools reopened for the first time. The new rulers had previously ordered classes to resume. Pupils waited in the courtyard of a boys' secondary school in Damascus on Sunday morning and applauded as school secretary Raed Nasser hung up the flag introduced by the new authorities.
"Everything is good," Nasser emphasized. "We have worked for two or three days to equip the school so that the students can return safely."
In one classroom, a pupil stuck the new Syrian flag on a wall. "I am optimistic and very happy," said Salah al-Din Diab. "I used to go out on the street worried that I would be called up for military service. I was always afraid when I reached a checkpoint."
This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.
Kommentare
Willkommen in unserer Community! Eingehende Beiträge werden geprüft und anschließend veröffentlicht. Bitte achten Sie auf Einhaltung unserer Netiquette und AGB. Für ausführliche Diskussionen steht Ihnen ebenso das krone.at-Forum zur Verfügung. Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.
User-Beiträge geben nicht notwendigerweise die Meinung des Betreibers/der Redaktion bzw. von Krone Multimedia (KMM) wieder. In diesem Sinne distanziert sich die Redaktion/der Betreiber von den Inhalten in diesem Diskussionsforum. KMM behält sich insbesondere vor, gegen geltendes Recht verstoßende, den guten Sitten oder der Netiquette widersprechende bzw. dem Ansehen von KMM zuwiderlaufende Beiträge zu löschen, diesbezüglichen Schadenersatz gegenüber dem betreffenden User geltend zu machen, die Nutzer-Daten zu Zwecken der Rechtsverfolgung zu verwenden und strafrechtlich relevante Beiträge zur Anzeige zu bringen (siehe auch AGB). Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.