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Syrian refugees lose hope of returning home
Dubai - The six-year civil war in Syria has killed over 320,000 Syrians and left over 6 million Syrians internally displaced.
The study, focusing on the hopes, concerns, and aspirations of young Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon, revealed that 54 percent of youth interviewed said they are unlikely to return to Syria permanently. A total of 42 percent said likely, while four percent said they did not know.
The study also revealed that young refugees do not consider Bashar Al-Assad leaving office as a prerequisite for reaching a peace agreement.
Just over a quarter (27 percent) agreed with the statement, "There can be no peace agreement as long as Bashar Al-Assad stays in office," versus 71 percent who said ending the fighting is more important than Al-Assad leaving office, with two percent saying they did not know.
Given a list of steps that need to be taken before they could return home, 47 percent chose the war ends option as the most important, while 25 percent said terrorist group Daesh leaving Syria, while the option Al-Assad leaving was chosen by only seven percent.
Many don't believe that a military solution alone will resolve the crisis as 43 per cent said both political and military action together are needed to put an end to war.
There are currently 660,315 Syrian refugees in Jordan and over one million Syrians in Lebanon.UAE among preferred destinations among Syrian refugees
The UAE was the only Arab destination Syrian refugees chose to live if they migrated.
The six top destinations preferred among the young Syrians who believed they will migrate were: Canada (27 per cent), followed by the US (23 per cent), UAE (22 per cent) and Germany (22 per cent). France was the choice for 14 percent and the UK was chosen by 13 percent.
Commenting on the results, Sunil John, founder and CEO of ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller that conducted the study, said the UAE has been attractive to the youth due to its security and job opportunities.
"The government has been directing a lot of its efforts towards the youth out of belief that youth is the future. Many of the refugees have relatives and friends who work in UAE, which is why it was among the top destinations," said John.
He added that the election of Donald Trump as the President of the United States did not impact the choice of the US as an option for migration. "The US remains an attractive destination to people because, after all, it is a developed country that carries a lot of potential to young people," he noted.Trump's election makes no difference, Syrian refugees said
However, they were highly divided on whether Russia's impact on the conflict with 49 percent saying positive and 46 percent saying negative and same applies to Iran's intervention where 49 per cent said the intervention is positive in contract to 48 who believed it is negative.
In addition, 77 per cent of young Syrian refugees believed that the terrorist group Daesh had become weaker over the past year, a significantly higher percentage than their peers in the Middle East among which 61 percent thought the same. Majority of Syrians believed that the best way to fight terrorism is through informing the public through media campaigns of Daesh's ideology that has nothing to do with Islam, followed by military action and educational reform.
What is the best solution to resolve the Syrian crisis? Majority of 43 per cent believe that a military solution alone won't solve the crisis, but a combination of political and military solution. Only 27 per cent said a political solution must be addressed.
On that, John from ASDA'A noted that the situation in Syria will take nearly 30 years to reform. "The losses to Syria's economy of $266 billion is four times the GDP Syria had in 2010- a year before the war starts. It is a tremendous loss in generation and young people in exile."The Top 5 findings
2. Young Syrian refugees say that ending the war and Daesh leaving Syria are most critical for their return home
3. Young Syrian refugees view Canada, US, UAE and Germany as the top countries to live in
4. Syrian refugees are divided on Iranian and Russian involvement in the wat and don't believe Trump's presidency will change the course of the conflict
5. Young refugees agree with their Arab peers, who say Daesh is getting weaker and military action is not the only priority in defeating terror.
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