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The High Commissioner for Refugees,Ìý,Ìýhas come under fire for suggesting that the international community should work with theÌýto returnÌýrefugees andÌýinternally displaced people returned to Syria.

Grandi visited Damascus and tweetedÌýfrom thereÌýon Sunday. His tweet was accompanied by a picture of Damascus's Umayyad Mosque.

Many Syrians considered this insensitive, with some replying that if they tried to visit their homes in Syria, they would be arrested, tortured, or killed by the regime.

During his two-day visit to Syria Grandi met Syrian regime Foreign MinisterÌý and Environment and Local Administration Minister of Local Administration and Environment Hussein Makhlouf.Ìý

Syrian activists and NGOs have repeatedly warned that Syria is not safe for refugees to return to, with the torture, rape, and forced disappearance of refugees by regime forces.

don't you think the people of the country have more right to visit this place safely as you did? If so, don't fall for 's game and know is not safe for many to return..

— Jamil Omr (@jamiiil847)

In a further tweet, Grandi said,Ìý"I have discussed with the Syrian Government ways to strengthen coordination as we address internal displacement, and to cooperate in removing obstacles to the return of refugees."

He also said that he had talked with returneesÌýin the city ofÌýTalbiseh in Homs province in central Syria.

Wafa Ali Mustafa, a Syrian activist and journalist described Grandi's visit to Syria as "shameful" and "outrageous".

"The only safe return is one that starts with getting rid of Assad's regime, prosecuting all war criminals in Syria, releasing all detainees, [and] ending the ongoing detention [and]Ìýbombardment," she wrote on Twitter.

Another Twitter user said: "As refugees, we are not safe from the oppression of this regime which is working to impoverish, starve [and] displace the people."

Amnesty International has documented a catalogue ofÌýviolations committed by Syrian intelligence officers against 66 returnees, including 13 children.

In five cases, detainees had died in custody after returning to Syria, while the fate of 17 forcibly disappeared people remains unknown. Ìý

Returning refugees told Amnesty that intelligence officers explicitly targeted them for their decision to flee Syria, accusing them of disloyalty or "terrorism".Ìý

The UNHCR commented onÌýGrandi's Syria trip on Monday issuing a statement saying:Ìý"These are Syrian nationals, and it'sÌýthe government's responsibility to ensure their security."

"We are engaging with the government to highlight refugees' concerns such as their safety, property rights and livelihoods."

During the last decade, the Syrian people have experienced a brutal war with over 500,000 people being killed andÌý forced to leave their homes, mostly as a result of regime bombardment of civilian areas.

AroundÌý5.5 million Syrian refugees currently reside in five Middle Eastern nations.

Tens of thousands of peopleÌýhave also been detainedÌýin regime jails over the past decade, with many of them feared dead.

°®ÂþµºÌýhas approachedÌýthe UNHCR for comment.