Interior minister says most returnees not classified as refugees
Jordan's Interior Minister Mazin Al-Farrayeh said Thursday that 7,250 Syrians have returned home since the ouster of Bashar Assad, with most not classified as refugees
Al-Farrayeh told Jordan's official Al-Mamlaka TV that the returnees crossed from Jordan into Syria through the Jaber-Nassib border crossing, which has been open since Dec. 8.
Jordan and Syria share two main border crossings. The Al-Gomruk Al-Qadim crossing, known as Ramtha on the Jordanian side, has been out of operation for years due to the Syrian conflict. The Nassib crossing, on the other hand, corresponds to Jordan's Jaber crossing.
Al-Farrayeh added that most of the returnees are not officially recognized as refugees.
Jordan, which hosts 1.3 million Syrians, is one of the most affected countries by the conflict in Syria.
Nearly half of the Syrian population in Jordan are registered as refugees, while the rest entered before the start of the conflict in 2011, through family ties, marriages, or business connections.
Bashar Assad, Syria's leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia after anti-regime groups took control of Damascus on Dec. 8, ending the Baath Party regime, which had been in power since 1963.
