Syrian regime rejects right of Syrians to return home

Syrian Minister of Local Administration and Environment Hussein Makhlouf accepted only 193 of 312 requests for return - rejecting 119 -  due to a decision by the National Security Bureau, local media reported.

"Allow those mentioned to return to the city of Taldou except the 119 people mentioned in the attached list," reads a document obtained by Zaman al-Wasl.

"Those applying to return to Syria now are from a self-selecting group of people who don't believe they have problems with Syria's security agencies, and yet these are the levels of rejections occurring on a consistent basis," tweeted Emma Beals, editor at Syria Context.

"The fact Syrians have to 'apply' to go home is a whole other problem and is unlawful. Then, they have to give loads of sensitive and personal information to abusive security agencies. EVEN THEN, a significant number are being detained on or after arrival."

Writer Khawla Hassan Al-Hadid told Zaman al-Wasl that the goal of this unjust decision is to complete the intended displacement of people from Taldou.

Those resident in northern Homs were displaced from their homes in May due to Syrian regime and Russian aerial bombardment, and most are now distributed across east Idlib and the western Aleppo countryside.

Syrians have misgivings about returning to areas under regime control. Men are particularly concerned that they could be targeted by regime authorities as potential opponents or forced into the army.

When Russia opened two "humanitarian corridors" to transport refugees out of Al-Rukban camp on the Syria-Jordan border and back to Syria in February, not a single person used them.

Syria's war, which started in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government demonstrations, has killed more than 370,000 people and led to 12 million Syrians being displaced internally and around the world.