BEIRUT, August 9. /TASS/. The return of Syrian refugees to their homeland is hindered by the country’s ruined economic and social infrastructure as a result of the war unleashed against Syria, the country’s President Bashar Assad told the Sky News Arabia TV channel.

According to him, less than half a million displaced people have returned to Syria in recent years. "Syrian refugees cannot return to their homeland because of the post-war devastation," Assad noted. "How can people live without water, electricity, schools and medical care? These are the basic things you need to live, so the return process has stopped," he went on to say.

Assad stressed that when the crisis began in 2011, he realized that the war would be long and its consequences severe. "It would have been possible to avoid this scenario, but then we would have had to accept the conditions imposed on us, which meant giving up the national rights of Syrians," he stressed.