Displaced Syrians Begin to Return to South after Ceasefire Deal

  • 7/7/2018
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Thousands of displaced Syrians were heading home Saturday after opposition and regime reached a ceasefire deal in the south following more than two weeks of deadly bombardment, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. A Russia-backed regime offensive in Daraa has displaced more than 320,000 people since June 19, the United Nations says, including tens of thousands who fled south to the sealed border with Jordan. Calm reigned over the region on Saturday as the two sides finalized the ceasefire deal, said the Observatory. "People have started to return to their homes since yesterday" from the Jordanian border, Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said. He said "over 28,000 displaced people" had returned to 13 villages and other locations. Under the agreement announced Friday after talks between opposition and regime ally Moscow, opposition fighters will hand over territory in the southern province of Daraa near the Jordanian border. Osama al-Homsi, 26, said he was hesitant to return to his hometown of Jeeza in southeastern Daraa after the deal. "Of course, I support the agreement to stop the fighting and bloodshed," said the young man, who sought shelter from the bombardment in a field to the south of Daraa city. "But what is frightening is that it comes with no UN guarantees... The Russian and the Syrian regime offer no safety," he said. Only when it is clear the ceasefire has really been implemented and "if we are guaranteed that no one will pursue us, will we want to return," Homsi said.

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