Jordan says 153,000 Syrians returned home since October

AMMAN: Around 153,000 Syrians have returned to their country from Jordan since the reopening of a key border post last October, the interior ministry said Tuesday.

Of the 153,000 who returned via the Jaber post, around 33,000 had refugee status with the UN refugee agency UNHCR, it said.

The ministry reiterated its commitment to “voluntary returns of Syrian refugees” and to easing “necessary steps for their departure from the kingdom”.

More than 650,000 Syrian refugees are registered with the UNHCR in Jordan, which shares a 370-kilometre (230-mile) border with Syria.

Amman says it has welcomed as many as 1.3 million Syrian refugees since the start of the neighbouring Arab country’s conflict in 2011.

The Jaber border post, called Nassib on the Syrian side, is the main passage between the two countries and used to serve as a hub for regional trade.