UN refugee official shocked by destruction of Syria’s Aleppo

BEIRUT – The U.N.’s top refugee official says the damage to the Syrian city of Aleppo is “much bigger” than what he had thought.

Filippo Grandi of the UNHCR expressed shock at the level of destruction and how much “everything has been ruined.”

He spoke after touring Aleppo on Wednesday. UNHCR is the first U.N. agency allowed to visit the city since Syrian government forces pushed out rebel fighters from Aleppo’s eastern districts in a punishing offensive a month ago.

Grandi says: “You drive for miles and miles — you see destroyed civilian houses, destroyed schools, destroyed hospitals.”

His also decried U.S. President Donald Trump’s ban on refugees and visa holders from Syria and six other Muslim-majority countries.

Grandi asks how can Trump “turn them back” and “not consider giving them protection?”