Officials from Syria have entered talks with the governments of Germany and Belgium to discuss ways to work more closely together for the return of Syrian war refugees. The separate meetings in the Syrian capital Damascus were designed to create more incentives for Syrians to come back to their country, as return rates remain rather low.
The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) said the discussions focused not only on facilitating returns but also on the reintegration of returnees — as well as development projects in Syria supported by the two European governments.
Internally displaced Syrians were also part of the talking points during the meetings in Damascus, which were chiefly spearheaded by Syrian Local Administration and Environment Minister Mohammed Anjarani.
Belgian delegation seeks to help with Syria's rebuilding
Anjarani's ministry said the Belgian government had sent a delegation from the Belgian development agency led by the regional director for the Middle East and North Africa Patrick Goudisart.
The Belgian agency is charged with implementing the Belgian government's international cooperation and development programs centered around issues including education, health, employment, entrepreneurship and clean governance.
Belgium's particular aid and development focus in Syria concentrates on the much-needed improvement of local services and infrastructure in the country, as well as making sustainable development and environmental challenges part of the country's reconstruction plan.
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German focus on returns
In a separate meeting in Damascus, a delegation from Germany's Federal Interior Ministry held discussions with the Expatriates and Refugees Department at the Syrian Foreign Ministry, which according to SANA focused on strengthening cooperation between the two nations as well as the coordination on refugee returns and related issues.
SANA said that the meeting dealt with plans to build a "safe, dignified and stable environment" for returning Syrian refugees to help reintegrate them into the local communities they had left during the 14-year war in the country.
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The talks between the Syrian and the German delegations also emphasized the importance of creating better communication channels between the two countries, exchanging their respective areas of expertise in managing returns and other aspects relating to the stabilization of the Middle Eastern nation nearly two years after the fall of longterm strongman Bashar al-Assad.
Germany has been among the chief advocates for Syrians to return and help rebuild their homeland, though few have followed the call to date.
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Much of Syria still in ruin
Interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has been advocating for the return of his countrymen and women since taking over leadership in early 2025.
On multiple occasions, he expressed that many would eventually come back to help rebuild the country — however, his initial projection of about 15 million Syrians returning within two years appears to have been an overly ambitious aspiration on his part.
According to the UN, only about a quarter of al-Sharaa's forecast — or about 3.8 million people in total — have so far returned to their homes, with a little more than half that number being made up of internally displaced Syrians.
In addition to ongoing bouts of sectarian violence in parts of the country, which is making some Syrians abroad hesitant to return, the main issue remains the lack of infrastructure in the country, much of which was destroyed during the war.
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