Syria urges refugees to return, vows aid

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Syrian Interior Ministry called on all citizens, who fled the country amid the ongoing bloody conflict, to come back and pledged to help with formalizing documents, RIA Novosti said.

“All Syrian citizens, who either fled the country legally or illegally due to the developing events, will receive an all-embracing assistance upon their return,” the ministry said in a statement.

The statement said that all Syrians, including representatives of political opposition parties, can return to their country via border checkpoints at airports as well as via using checkpoints on the borders with Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey.

The civil war in Syria continues to gain momentum as the Syrian rebels intensify their push on the capital, Damascus, and other key cities in the country.

At least 60,000 people have been killed in Syria in the conflict between government and rebel forces since March 2011, according to UN estimates released in January. The conflict has also forced some 600,000 people to flee Syria in fear of protracted violence.