Over 45,000 Syrian refugees return home from Jordan since July

Iran Press TV

Mon Apr 29, 2013 4:31PM GMT

More than 45,000 Syrian refugees have returned home since July 2012 from a refugee camp in northern Jordan as tensions subsides in the war-torn country.

Over the past nine months, 45,865 Syrian refugees "have agreed to voluntarily leave the camp and return home," Colonel Zaher Abu Shehab, who runs the Zaatari refugee camp, said on Monday.

"Every day between 300 and 400 refugees express the desire to go back to Syria," he added.

The spokeswoman for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Melissa Fleming, said on April 12 that Syrians were willing to return home due to improved security in Syria.

Jordan is hosting more than 500,00 Syrian refugees, including over 160,000 in Zaatari camp.

Zaatari has been the scene of frequent rioting, as refugees protest against living conditions in the desert camp, where water and electricity are scarce and services are poor.

On April 19, 10 Jordanian officers were injured after clashes erupted between security forces and Syrian refugees in the camp.

Refugees protest against Jordanian authorities for confiscating humanitarian aid provided to them, saying, the Syrians have to pay 200 dollars to police forces, who would in return allow them to leave the camp.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011. Many people, including large numbers of Syrian army and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

The Syrian government says the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants are foreign nationals.

PG/SS