UN hopes for more progress in Syria, 700 refugees returned to the country over past 24 hours

Panos Moumtzis, the UN Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis, hoped that there will be more progress in the political and security fields in Syria that will in turn improve the humanitarian situation in the country.

In statements to Russia Today channel, Moumtzis underlined the necessity of exerting more efforts to realize peace and stability in Syria, a matter that will help improve the humanitarian situation there.

He added Rukban refugee camp could not be a permanent solution to the Syrian refugees, stressing the importance of working on making greater progress in the political and security domains.

The Rukban camp is part of the US-controlled zone around Washington's Al-Tanf base in Syria.

The World Health Organization has said that people living in Rukban were trapped there, noting deplorable conditions in the camp.

Russia and Syria have urged the United States to release Rukban's residents and ensure their unimpeded exit from the camp to the places of their permanent residence.

UNICEF joined the largest aid convoy since the start of the conflict in Syria, delivering food, medicines, educational items and children’s recreational kits to 40,000 displaced people in Rukban, Syria.

Throughout the crisis, the UN has been one of the few agencies able to deliver life-saving supplies to remote displacement camps or besieged areas.

The Russian Center for Reconciliation of Opposing Sides and Refugee Migration Monitoring in Syria said a total of 722 people returned to Syria from the territory of foreign states.

Since July 18, 2018, in total 156,438 Syrians have returned back to their homes from abroad including 58,971 refugees from Lebanon.

According to consolidated information provided by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, as of January 1, 2019 there are still 6,675,308 registered refugees seeking asylum in 45 countries worldwide, with 2,002,592 women and 3,404,407 children among them.