CALAIS: Wrapped up against the cold in northern France, Syrian migrant Ali said that while he was delighted president Bashar al Assad had been toppled, he was still determined to cross the sea to England. "I was happy when Bashar al Assad left, he's a criminal," he said near the tent where he spent a bitter night in the port city of Calais. "Nobody wanted him in power anymore," said the 23-year-old, who did not give his surname for his safety. "But the situation in Syria remains confused and the general atmosphere is chaotic," he added.
Syria's new transitional prime minister has called for Syrians abroad to return to their homeland to help rebuild it, while Britain and other European countries have rushed to freeze all pending asylum requests from Syrians. But Ali, who hails from the Syrian region of Daraa that in 2011 was the first to rise up against Assad and has been hoping to cross the Channel for two months, was undeterred. "It's very bad news, but it won't stop us," he insisted. "We want to continue to go to England because we're looking for peace." But, he added: "If the situation improves in Syria, we'll go back. "Everyone dreams of going home, but for now, the situation remains too uncertain, the leaders come from a background linked to terrorism." HTS, which led the rebels that ousted Assad, have promised to protect minorities and respect people's rights.
Meanwhile, Türkiye has expanded its border crossing capacities to accommodate the surge in Syrian refugees seeking to return home following the fall of Bashar al Assad, the interior minister has said.
Hundreds flocked to Türkiye's southern border with Syria, with Ankara quickly moving to expand its crossing facilities, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya told reporters in remarks published on Tuesday. "Although we had a daily capacity to accommodate 3,000 crossings, we have increased that to between 15,000 and 20,000," Yerlikaya said.
Türkiye is home to nearly three million refugees who fled after the start of the civil war in 2011, with Ankara hoping the tectonic shift in neighbouring Syria will allow many to return home. Yerlikaya said "300-400" people crossed the frontier on Sunday but by midday on Monday, that number had "doubled". "We will have a meeting with Syrian NGOs" about the refugees' return, he said, without specifying which groups would be involved. Yerlikaya said that since 2016, "more than 738,000 Syrians" had voluntarily returned home, with a total of 2,935,000 still left in Türkiye. Türkiye shares a 900-kilometre border with Syria with five operational crossings. — AFP
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