What next for Syria's refugees, with Gonzalo Vargas Llosa - UNHCR Representative to Syria

Rather than follow in the footsteps of his late father, a Nobel-prize winning writer, Gonzalo Vargas Llosa opted instead to serve humanity. Now the UN High Commissioner for Refugees' Representative to Syria, he just witnessed a historic end to 14 years of conflict and crisis. "There were these long, long lines of cars of Syrian refugees coming back from Lebanon. So many of them stopped the car the moment that they entered Syria, they got out of the car, they kissed the ground … saying we are so happy to be back in this new Syria." The fall of the Assad regime has brought fresh hope for millions of displaced Syrians. Yet with a lack of housing, services and jobs still preventing most from returning, the UN is calling for action to support returnees. In this episode, Gonzalo Vargas Llosa looks back on a career full of seismic turning points, and reflects on the painful sacrifices of a life spent in service.

You can listen to What next for Syria's refugees, with Gonzalo Vargas Llosa - UNHCR Representative to Syria online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

What next for Syria's refugees, with Gonzalo Vargas Llosa - UNHCR Representative to Syria is an episode from Awake At Night by Tulin Battikhi.

This episode is 36:53 long.

This episode was published on Aug 1, 2025.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Awake At Night when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.