Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Syrian Refugees’ Difficult Dream of Return Incites Mutual Hatred | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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This Feb. 14, 2017 file photo, shows the informal Rukban camp for displaced Syrians, between the Jordan and Syria borders. Raad Adayleh, File AP Photo


Beirut, Jordan, Ankara- In the absence of a near solution to the Syrian conflict which entered last March its seventh year, Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper documents the suffering of millions of Syrian refugees who took refuge in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey where they face mutual hatred feelings with the hosting countries due to a difficult dream to return home.

In Lebanon, a deal inked between “Hezbollah” and al-Nusra Front to secure the deportation of more than 10 thousand out of 1.5 million Syrian refugees from Lebanon echoed some comfort in the ranks of Lebanese, who had earlier blamed those Syrians for causing the several crises from which the country currently suffer.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese rhetoric against Syrians, described by human rights activists as being “racist,” has led to a similar Syrian rhetoric during the past five years.

The situation pressed President Michel Aoun to interfere and “diffuse” some of the growing tensions between Syrians and Lebanese that had blew up following the Arsal events last month.

In Jordan, the presence of around 1.4 million Syrian refugees imposed heavy economic and security burdens on the infrastructure, including education, sanitation, water and roads.

Syrian refugees incapable to enter the already packed Jordanian schools, has also spread the phenomenon of child labor in the country.

According to official statistics, 18 percent of Jordanians are currently unemployed, a number that led the youth generation to call on Syrians to return home or to the refugee camps.

In Turkey, the difficult merger of Syrian refugees in the Turkish society drove some problems, in the presence of some factions that reject their presence.

There are around 3 million Syrian refugees in Turkey, including a large number living in the cities.

Last June, Turkey’s Interior Ministry issued official statistics showing that only 300 thousands Syrian refugees were living in the camps, whereas the rest of them live in the cities, including Istanbul, which alone hosts half a million.

Lately, some tension arose between Turkish and Syrians leading to a series of disputes that also reflected on social media websites.