President Barack Obama may be pushing for allowing more Syrian refugees to resettle in the United States, but if the migrants had it their way, they would rather return to their homeland.
Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson said this was the sentiment he gathered after visiting refugee camps in Jordan, a move seen as an effort to boost his foreign policy credential.
Speaking to CNN's Brianna Keilar, the retired neurosurgeon dispelled the belief that Syrian migrants want to relocate to the U.S.
"The thing that I really learned in listening to the refugees themselves is their intense desire to return to their country and [get] repatriated," Carson said, as quoted on the CNN website.
"There [are] so many people who think the ideal for everybody is to come to America and be resettled here, but that is not the ideal for everybody," he added.
Carson also said the Obama administration is better off just funding refugee camps like the one he visited, instead of spending government money on resettlement areas for Syrian refugees.
"We need to be looking at mechanisms that already exist. Why do you want to recreate the wheel when you have something that's working? Let's maximise that and then let's think about if we need [to] recreate other wheels," the Republican presidential aspirant said.
"They (refugee camps) don't have enough money," he said. "You look at last year, there was a $3 billion shortfall. That's the same amount of money we spent last month on Halloween candy."
He said based on his observations, Syrian refugees are "satisfied" with refugee camps because these facilities already have basic amenities that can support their daily life.
