The Syrian conflict is now in its eighth year, with more than 360,000 deaths and millions more uprooted from their homes over that time.
Syria’s Foreign Minister, Walid al-Moualem, told the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday that the country was ready for the voluntary return of refugees who fled during the conflict.
He urges and calls upon the “international community and humanitarian organisations to facilitate these returns".
However, the United States and the European Union have warned that there will be no reconstruction aid for Syria until there is a political agreement between Assad and the opposition, to end the war.