THIRTEEN years on, Syria is still embroiled in a civil war that forced millions to flee their homes and sparked a refuge crisis in the Middle East and Europe.
The current situation in Syria is not yet suitable to accommodate returning refugees, according to the head of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees operations in Jordan.
The UN Representative to Jordan made the statement after eight European countries called for the conditions in Syria to be reassessed so that refugees could return to the Arab Republic voluntarily.
The European countries that were proposed included Austria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Italy, Malta and Poland.
Millions of Syrians have been fleeing from the country to escape the impact of the ongoing civil war that erupted in 2011 as part of the wider Arab Spring Revolution, or the series of protests instigated by several Arab countries in the region.
An estimated one million Syrian refugees and asylum seekers are registered in Europe, another 3.3 million are registered in Turkiye, while Lebanon and Jordan have 1.4 million combined.
European countries and the United States have donated billions of dollars in aid to Jordan and Lebanon to help the two Arab nations cope with the influx of refugees.
More than 6 million Syrians have fled the country and 6.7 million were left homeless by the war, according to the UN agency.
