DAMASCUS, August 9. /TASS/. The number of Syrian refugees who returned home from Lebanon since July 18, has exceeded 6,300 people, Colonel Samer Mkhan, a spokesman for the coordination committee to repatriate Syrian refugees, said at a joint meeting of the Russian and Syrian Centers for Receiving, Relocating and Accommodating Refugees on Thursday.
"Over the past 24 hours, 136 people have returned to Syria from Lebanon. In all, 6,381 refugees have returned from Lebanon since July 18, 2018, including via the Zemrani, Jeydet Yabus, al-Dabusiyah and al-Qusayr checkpoints, while 318 people have arrived at the Nasib checkpoint from Jordan," he said.
The colonel added that more than 27,000 people have returned to the Homs Governorate since January 1, and nearly 22,000 people have returned to Eastern Ghouta. He noted that work is in progress to restore houses and social facilities.
For his part, chief of the Russian Center for Receiving, Relocating and Accommodating Refugees Major General Alexei Tsygankov said that Russian representatives discussed with head of the coordination committee to repatriate Syrian refugees Hussein Makhlouf the joint work at the checkpoints with neighboring countries and internally displaced persons.
"The Syrian government and the Russian interdepartmental coordination headquarters believe the most important task is restoring civilian infrastructure, including social facilities. Thanks to concerted effort, the restoration process is proceeding at a fairly fast pace, with specific results visible today. Highways, bridges, water supply facilities, electric power lines, medical and educational institutions, bakeries and houses are being actively restored," Tsygankov added.