Aid groups worry Syria refugees pushed into premature return

AMMAN, Jordan – The Norwegian Refugee Council and other international aid groups say they worry large numbers of Syrian refugees are being pushed to return home while their war-ravaged country remains unsafe.

The groups say in a report published Monday that for every Syrian returning home in 2017, three more were newly displaced by violence. The report quotes the United Nations as saying that an additional 1.5 million Syrians will likely be displaced in 2018.

Daniel Gorevan, head of the NRC’s regional advocacy, says the groups are concerned about an “anti-refugee backlash” in the region and in the West. He says this has translated into closed borders and few resettlement options for vulnerable refugees.

In seven years of war, some 5.5 million Syrians have fled their homeland and millions more were internally displaced.