JORDAN: Syrian refugees in Jordan hopeful of being able to return to their homeland in 2014

Record ID: 274480

  • Title: JORDAN: Syrian refugees in Jordan hopeful of being able to return to their homeland in 2014
  • Date: 31st December 2013
  • Summary: MAFRAQ, JORDAN (DECEMBER 31, 2013) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ZATARI REFUGEE CAMP FREE SYRIAN FLAG IN THE CAMP VARIOUS OF WOMAN WASHING CLOTHES BETWEEN TENTS CHILDREN PLAYING OUTSIDE TENTS GROUP OF MEN DRINKING TEA (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ABU MAHER, SYRIAN REFUGEE SAYING: "We hope that in 2014 we will be able to return to our country, our homes, our families. Our life here, we
  • Embargoed: 15th January 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Jordan
  • Country: Jordan
  • Topics: Conflict,International Relations,People
  • Reuters ID: LVA65XQGU1TST10J97KJT2L3Z2UQ
  • Story Text: Syrians expressed their hopes for 2014 on Tuesday (December 31) from a refugee camp in north Jordan.
    The camp is home to 130,000 refugees, half of whom are children.
    Jordanian authorities and aid agencies are struggling to keep up with the increasing needs of the camp's residents and only a fraction of the hundreds of millions of dollars of international aid pledged to help the Syrian refugees, has arrived.
    The Syrians just want to be able to go home.

    "We hope that in 2014 we will be able to return to our country, our homes, our families. Our life here, we don't like it, we don't want to stay here. Jordan was generous to us, they are also our family and our people, but people always prefer their homes," said Abu Maher
    "We hope to be able to return to our homes, to live happy and normal lives. Thank God life in the camp is good, but when a person is used to living somewhere, he can't change it suddenly. We want to go back, hopefully the regime will fall, and a new god-fearing government will be installed, that cares for the peoples benefit. That's all we want," said Abu Omar.
    Syria's uprising against four decades of rule by the family of President Bashar al-Assad has turned into an increasingly sectarian civil war that has killed over than 100,000 people, displaced 6.5 million inside Syria and forced 2.2 million more to find sanctuary outside of its borders.

    "First and foremost, we hope to be able to return to our country, and to be rid of Bashar the tyrant, God willing he is soon to leave, and we will return home soon," said Abu Raafat.

    "We want the fall of the Bashar's regime, and installing a pure state, and God willing every refugee in the Arab world will return to Syria," said Abu Abdullah.
    Jordan is one of Syria's four immediate neighbours, and along with Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq, inundated with refugees fleeing the ongoing civil war. The country hosts close to 600,000 Syrian refugees.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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