Syria: 'Terrorist aggression to blame' for refugee crisis

Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, has said that the refugee crisis unfolding in Europe is the direct result of terrorist aggression against Syria.

He blamed Islamist militants for forcing thousands from their homes and said the government had helped millions of displaced people.

Speaking to the BBC's Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen, Mr Mekdad called for Syrians who had left the country to return.