“The Syrians stranded in trucks have begun crossing to their country,” Turki Muhammad Khalaf, district mayor of al-Qaim on the Iraq-Syria border, told Rudaw. “Their identification papers are being checked for security reasons before they are allowed to cross to Syria.”
The 13-year uprising against Bashar al-Assad’s regime came to a quick end when a coalition of rebels led by the Islamist Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched a lightning offensive against the Syrian army late last month, culminating their victory with the capture of Damascus as Assad fled to Russia and ending over five decades of Baathist rule.
The HTS-led groups established a transitional government led by caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir who has promised a future Syrian state that guarantees the rights of all its citizens.
On Sunday, the United Nations stressed the need for increased humanitarian assistance to Syria and to ensure the safe return of refugees to their homes.
“We need to make sure that Syria received increased humanitarian assistance to the people in Syria and to all the refugees who want to return,” UN Special Envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen told reporters while visiting Damascus.
Also on Sunday, Turkey announced that over 7,500 Syrian refugees had returned to their homes in five days.
Syrian rebels have called on their compatriots outside of the country to return to their homeland and several European nations have suspended processing of Syrian refugee claims.
Mushtaq Ramadhan contributed to this report.
