Feb 12, 2017

The head of Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah movement on Sunday urged the government to coordinate with Damascus to help refugees to return now that "large areas" of Syria are "safe".

In a televised address, Hassan Nasrallah said Syrian refugees should not be coerced into going home, but added that a string of "victories" by President Bashar al-Assad's forces meant it would be safe for many to return.

"Military victories in Syria, the most recent of them the victory in Aleppo... have turned large areas into safe and quiet spaces," Nasrallah said.

He urged "cooperation to return the majority of these refugees to their towns and villages and homes, so they will no longer be refugees sitting in tents or in the streets".

Lebanon hosts around a million registered Syrian refugees and has struggled with the consequences of the war in neighbouring Syria since it began in March 2011.