LEBANON: Syrian refugees hope Geneva 2 peace talks allows them to return home

Record ID: 274487

  • Title: LEBANON: Syrian refugees hope Geneva 2 peace talks allows them to return home
  • Date: 22nd January 2014
  • Summary: AKKAR, NORTHERN LEBANON (JANUARY 22, 2014) (REUTERS) TENTED SETTLEMENT FOR SYRIAN REFUGEES VARIOUS OF TENTS WHERE SYRIAN REFUGEES ARE STAYING LAUNDRY ON LINE BETWEEN TENTS VARIOUS OF SYRIAN REFUGEE WOMEN AND CHILDREN STANDING BETWEEN TENTS VARIOUS OF SYRIAN WOMAN WITH HER CHILD ON HER BACK WASHING DISHES ON THE GROUND NEAR HER TENT (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) UNIDENTIFIED SYRI
  • Embargoed: 6th February 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Lebanon
  • Country: Lebanon
  • Topics: Conflict,General,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA4F1BS7QMXZFOY9U8MMUVWSSXO
  • Story Text: Syrian refugees in Lebanon said their only wish for the Geneva 2 peace talks on Wednesday (January 22) was to be able to return to their homes.
    As United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon opened what will be a day of speeches at Montreux on Lake Geneva from more than 40 delegations, including the opposing sides in Syria, refugees at a camp in the northern Lebanese town of Akkar said they hoped the talks would bring an end to the fighting.
    "We only ask them to get us back to our country and our land, let them build it for us so we can go back to our houses, we want nothing more. We want this war to calm down and for there to be a ceasefire and to stop everything," said a man from the Aleppo countryside.
    Another refugee, a woman from Aleppo, said she was tired of the situation and was desperate to return home.
    "We wish to go back to our country and we don't want any aid. We want to go back home. Hopefully our country will be freed, this is what we want. We want nothing more," she said.
    Some 25 families have taken shelter in the tented settlement in Akkar.
    The release on the eve of the talks of thousands of photographs apparently showing prisoners tortured and killed by the Syrian government reinforced opposition demands that Assad must quit and face a war crimes trial. The president, who succeeded his father 14 years ago, insists he can win re-election and wants to talk about fighting "terrorism".
    Assad has been protected by Russia, his main arms supplier, but Washington and Moscow share alarm at the spread of the violence that has already killed more than 130,000 Syrians and displaced more than two million.
    Fighting in Syria continued as talks got underway. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group reported clashes and air strikes around the country.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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