Leader of the new Syrian administration Ahmed Al-Sharaa announced on Sunday that he expects most Syrian citizens abroad to return to their country within two years.
Since Syrian factions overthrew the regime of Bashar Al-Assad on 8 December, Syrian refugees have begun to return from abroad.
Sharaa expressed in an interview with YouTuber Joe Hattab at the presidential palace in Damascus: “I am certain that within two years, only one million of the 15 million Syrians abroad will remain abroad; the people will return. The battle (to remove the Al-Assad regime) had the goal of mercy. How could people not be happy?”
He stressed that the ousted regime: “Treated the people as an enemy and was always afraid of them. All the institutions were used to besiege the people because they viewed and understood power as controlling the people and blackmailing them. People feared the deposed regime; they were not convinced of it. When morals and manners are used in a practical manner, you can influence people.”
Al-Sharaa continued: “If you want to preserve success, you must have an anxious side because those who want to work for the sake of public interest can only do so with caution so that you have an incentive to work more.”
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He emphasised that the “language of revenge” does not exist among the people of the Levant: “The goal of the major battle was for God to grant us victory without revenge because the mentality of revenge does not build anything, and one’s rights are taken through the judiciary and the law. I rely on the culture of society and its choices. There is a societal consensus in Syria that is capable of creating a new life.”
Regarding the issue of amnesty, Al-Sharaa explained: “During the battle, we proposed amnesty, and it isn’t reasonable, after victory, for me to drag people from their homes (out of revenge). If we hadn’t done so, people would have resisted, and blood would have been shed. God gave us victory at the lowest cost. If I had been victorious and Aleppo and Damascus were destroyed, we would not have gained anything. We were victorious and won the people.”
“We must have priorities in building the existing state through building institutions that achieve a good level of justice and prevent the recurrence of what happened… we have restored Syria,” according to Al-Sharaa. “The mentality of building the state must be present, the mentality of revenge does not build a state. The revolution is over; it is part of our history and we are proud of it. We must have a strategic perspective.”
Proud of what the revolution achieved and optimistic about the expected results, Al-Sharaa asserted: “In a few years, the Syrian passport will be placed on the table and will have weight.”
By overthrowing the Al-Assad regime, the Syrian factions ended 61 years of Ba’ath Party rule and 53 years of control by the Al-Assad family.
Currently, a new government is overseeing a transitional phase that aims to lead Syria to elections.
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