Alwaght- UN has rejected a recent US proposal to create safe zones inside Syrian territory to keep refugees from leaving the country.
The UN High Commissioner on Refugees says creating such zones inside Syria could not help refugees as the country is not a right place for such initiative.
Filippo Grandi said "Let's not waste time planning safe zones that will not be set up because they will not be safe for people to go back."
"Let us concentrate on making peace so that everywhere becomes safe. That should be the investment," he said.
US President Donald Trump recently proposed to create safe zones inside Syrian territory to prevent a flow of refugees to the western countries.
The president explored schemes with Jordanian King Abdullah II in a face-to-face meeting in Washington, D.C. on Thursday. Jordan is host to some 650,000 Syrian refugees.
Grandi cited terrorism and the fragmentation of Syria and its warring parties as obstacles to creating working safe zones in the country.
Damascus has expressed its deep concern over the proposal, saying such safe zones, if agreed upon, would have to be set up in coordination with the Syrian government.
Trump plunged the international refugee system into crisis last week when he issued an executive order forbidding refugees to enter the US for 120 days.
Grandi called the executive order a "dangerous weakening" of the established international norms to protect refugees.
"These are people that flee from danger, they are not dangerous themselves," he said of refugees. The six-year-long foreign backed militancy has displaced half the country's population.
Grandi criticized the US and Western nations for "not doing enough" to share the burden of resettling Syrian refugees.
"(Lebanon) hosted more than 1 million people in the last three years, why can't rich countries host even a much smaller number?" he said.
