Hundreds of Syrian refugees have begun leaving Lebanon to return to Syria as part of a repatriation plan criticized by international organizations in which about 15,000 people a month are expected to leave the country from different points, such as Arsal, Nabatiyé or Tripoli.
The outgoing Lebanese Minister of Social Affairs, Hector Hayar, announced on Tuesday that the gradual repatriation of Syrian refugees settled in Lebanon would be «voluntary and safe» in the face of numerous criticisms from various NGOs.
According to the Lebanese General Security, at least 751 Syrian refugees will return to their country during the day, mainly from Arsal, a small mountainous town 124 kilometers northeast of Beirut, the capital, DPA reported.
«Facilities were provided to the returning Syrian citizens who were forcibly displaced from their homes and villages by armed terrorist gangs, through simplified procedures, health services and their access to their safe villages and homes,» Dabousiyah border center director Fadi Issa told SANA news agency.
This return comes within the framework of a plan of the outgoing government of Nayib Mikati, which envisages the repatriation of 15,000 refugees per month. This strategy has been questioned by several NGOs and international organizations which qualify this departure as dangerous due to the violations of Human Rights in Syria.
This is the case of Amnesty International, which demanded in mid-October that the Lebanese authorities stop the process, which «has been underway for four years, despite the fact that it is known that Syrian refugees in Lebanon are not in a position to make a free and informed decision on their return».
«By enthusiastically facilitating these returns, the Lebanese authorities are knowingly putting these Syrian refugees at risk of egregious abuses and persecution upon their return to Syria,» highlighted Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Diana Semaan.
General Security Director Abbas Ibrahim told a press conference on Tuesday that Lebanon would not submit to «pressure», while making it clear that «no refugee» would be «forced to be repatriated», according to the daily ‘L’Orient Le Jour’.
Lebanon’s acting Prime Minister Nayib Mikati had already threatened in June to expel Syrian refugees arguing that the country «no longer has the capacity to shoulder the burden», in the midst of a deep economic and social crisis that has set off alarm bells internationally.
The war in Syria has caused some 5.7 million people to flee to other countries in the region, including some 840,000 who have crossed the border into Lebanon, according to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
However, Lebanese authorities estimate the real figure to be closer to 1.5 million people, in addition to the some 480,000 Palestinian refugees living in the country. The largest concentration of Syrian refugees is in the Bekaa Valley (east), near the Syrian border.
