SYRIAN REFUGEES IN ALGERIA RETURN HOME

Algiers, 17 Dzulqa’dah 1435/12 September 2014 (MINA) – Syrian refugees in Algeria are choosing to return to their home country, according to the Algerian Red Crescent and representatives of the Syrian community in Algeria.

The head of the Algerian Red Crescent Saida Benhabyles said, in a statement, that she bid farewell to a group of Syrian refugees yesterday evening in El-Moasker province west of the country, who decided to return to their country.

“The Algerian Red Crescent provided significant assistance to a group of Syrian families that wished to voluntarily return to their country, by facilitating tickets and other assistance,” she added, according to Middle East Monitor (MEMO) report monitored by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA).

The spokeswoman did not mention the reason for the departure of the Syrian nor the number of families who have decided to return.

Representative of the Syrian community in Algeria, Saleh Yazbek, told the Anadolu news agency: “There are already a large number of families that decided to return to their homeland and this has been observed in the Algerian airports yet it’s not possible to provide the exact number of these families.”

Speaking of the reason for this wave, the representative said: “It’s not the poor conditions of living in Algeria; in fact Syrians here are staying in places which offer all the amenities, they even stay in places allocated for foreign guests and developed by the Algerian government at their disposal since they entered the country, while other families decided to live outside of these residences in several provinces.”

“The main reason these families are leaving, in my opinion, is the improved security situation in some Syrian provinces, especially those located in the vicinity of the capital Damascus and its surroundings,” he added.

The number of Syrian refugees in Algeria ranges between 15-20,000 who fled the war and were distributed by authorities into shelters, according to previous figures published by the Algerian interior ministry. (T/P002/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)