(20 Jun 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Damascus, Syria - 20 June 2025
1. Pull focus from U.N. flag to Filippo Grandi
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Filippo Grandi, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees:
"Two million people, now to be clear about one and a half million, 1.4 million, are people that were displaced inside Syria and have gone back to their homes, and 600,000, this is an important figure, are Syrians form the neighboring countries, they were refugees in Lebanon, in Jordan, in Turkey, and in other countries and have returned.”
3. U.N. flag with Grandi in the background
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Filippo Grandi, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees:
"How can we make sure that the return of the Syrian displaced or refugees is sustainable, that people don’t move again because they don’t have a house or they don’t have a job or they don’t have electricity?"
5. Mid shot of Grandi's hands
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Filippo Grandi, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees:
"What is needed for people to return, electricity but also schools, also health centers, also safety and security, so all of this is part of the reconstruction of Syria, this is what needs to be funded, more quickly and with more resources.”
7. Grandi sitting at table
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Filippo Grandi, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees:
"The United States suspended all foreign assistance, and we were very much impacted, like others, and also other donors in Europe are reducing foreign assistance. So this is the same message; are you reducing support at a time when there are so many crises, look now there’s a new war in this region, why are you cutting back? And I tell the Europeans in particular - be careful, remember 2015, 2016 when they cut food assistance to the Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan, the Syrians moved towards Europe.”
9. Grandi talking while sitting
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Filippo Grandi, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees:
“We know that some Iranians have gone to neighboring countries, like Azerbaijan or Armenia, but we have very little information. No country has asked for help yet. And we have very little sense of the internal displacement, because my colleagues who are in Iran - they’re working out of bunkers because of the bombs.”
11. Grandi talking and shaking someone's hand
STORYLINE:
Displaced Syrians who have returned home face a fragile future, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said Friday.
“I tell the Europeans in particular, be careful. Remember 2015, 2016 when they cut food assistance to the Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan, the Syrians moved toward Europe,” Filippo Grandi told The Associated Press.
More than two million Syrian refugees and internally displaced people have returned home since the fall of the government of Bashar Assad in December.
Speaking during a visit to Damascus that coincided with World Refugee Day, Grandi described the situation in Syria as “fragile and hopeful” and warned that the r... [truncated]
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Video at Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-piYUTmqZA