Refugees of the Syrian Civil War

The trial of 24 aid workers and volunteers who participated in migrant rescue operations resumed Friday on an eastern Greek island, a prosecution that has drawn widespread criticism from international human rights groups.

As the recent dialogue between Türkiye, Russia and Syria yields results, the number of Syrian refugees returning to their homeland will increase, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Jan. 11.

"As the security environment in northern Syria improves, the return of Syrians to their homes is accelerating," Erdoğan said at the International Ombudsman Conference.

A group of 24 aid workers and volunteers who participated in migrant rescue operations on an eastern Greek island went on trial Tuesday in a smuggling-related case widely criticized by human rights groups.

A Greek court was set to hear a smuggling-related criminal case Tuesday against a group of 24 aid workers and volunteers who participated in migrant rescue operations on an eastern Greek island.

The controversial trial of 24 aid workers who helped dozens of migrants and asylum seekers land safely on the shores of Lesvos at the peak of the refugee crisis is set to begin on the eastern Aegean island on Tuesday.

“About 10% of Syrians are Christians & yet less than 1,5% of Syrian refugees admitted to the US this year are Christian. There hasn’t been a good explanation for this”

Since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, Bulgaria has received 782,043 refugees at its borders and has granted temporary protection as per the Temporary Protection Directive of EU, to approximately 136,818 Ukrainian refugees, 87 percent of whom are women and children. 54,579 Ukrainian refugees remain within the country as of 5 October.

A total of 7,032 Syrians have repatriated to their homeland from Türkiye in August, Deputy Interior Minister İsmail Çataklı has announced.

"The total number of those repatriating to Syria was some 514,000 in July," said Çataklı, who is also the ministry's spokesperson, while briefing the media about the Syrians' return.

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu reiterated his party's policy to send the Syrian refugees back to their country if his party comes to power.

Members of the Afghan community of Greece protest in Athens on 7 February 2014 over the death of 12 immigrants off the island of Farmakonisi on 23 January, 2014.  Photo: EPA/ALKIS KONSTANTINIDIS