00:00The head of the UN Refugee Agency in Lebanon said that the move by the United States to lift
00:07sanctions on Syria would encourage more refugees to return back. Many refugees returning from
00:13neighboring countries are eligible for cash payments, but many are also coming back to
00:17destroyed homes and no work opportunities. Without jobs or reconstruction, many may leave again.
00:23The aid provided by international organizations has so far been on a relatively small scale,
00:30but the UN agency says lifting the sanctions could make a huge difference.
00:35So far, most of the support provided in areas of return, where refugees have returned to or IDPs
00:42have returned to, has actually been by humanitarian organizations like UNHCR and others on the ground.
00:49What is needed now is big money in terms of reconstruction and private sector investments
01:00in Syria that will create jobs so that people can, you know, find a job, have an income that
01:07they can use to rebuild their house. The UN Refugee Agency reports that altogether more than one
01:14million refugees and nearly two million internally displaced Syrians have returned to their homes
01:19since the fall of the al-Assad regime in 2024. The U.S. imposed the sanctions in 2019 to punish
01:27al-Assad for human rights abuses and war crimes during the country's civil war.
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