The EU Commission presented a document outlining plans to increase voluntary returns to Syria at a meeting with representatives from its member states this week. Plans include funding infrastructure and appointing a special envoy.
EU member states discussed potential returns of Syrians at a meeting of Permanent Representatives in Brussels on Wednesday (October 30).
The EU Commission presented a document on the voluntary return of Syrians, coordinated with the UN. It follows a plan presented last July by Italy and seven other countries on the same issue.
Among the initiatives the Commission plans to implement are the "appointment of a special envoy for Syria" and "an increase in funding to cover access to healthcare, schooling, basic employment opportunities, and small-scale energy and water facilities."
The Commission also proposes exploring "options to provide greater support to people on the move," coordinated with ongoing UNHCR fieldwork.
Additionally, the Commission said that it aimed for a "more substantial rehabilitation of infrastructure, with targeted support for local authorities and small businesses to increase job creation opportunities, especially in areas where Syrians are returning."
Syrians fleeing military offensive in Lebanon
The Commission's proposal comes at a critical time for Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Following the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, an estimated 300,000 people have already crossed the border from Lebanon to Syria, with 70 percent of them being Syrian nationals.
In recent weeks, over half a million people have fled the Israeli military offensive on Lebanon to Syria, a country still engulfed in a 13-year-long internal and regional conflict.
According to the Lebanese government, 160,000 of these individuals are Lebanese, while around 400,000 are Syrians returning to their homeland after years of refuge in Lebanon. This updated count was provided by Lebanon's Ministry of the Displaced and reported by Beirut media.