Beirut / Wassim Seif El-Din / Anatolia
On Wednesday the convoys of the “voluntary return” of Syrian refugees from Lebanon to their country, organized by the Beirut authorities, resumed after they had been suspended since 2019 due to the Corona epidemic.
Authorities have identified 14 collection points for the return of Syrian refugees in various Lebanese regions, where members of General Security and the army check the documents of those who wish to return (the number was not disclosed), according to the correspondent of the ‘Anatolia.
The Anatolian correspondent monitored the presence of 500 Syrian refugees in the Wadi Hamid area of Arsal on the Syrian-Lebanese border in eastern Lebanon, who will return to their country.
The trip to the Lebanese-Syrian border was accompanied by the Minister of Social Affairs in the interim government, Hector Hajjar, with the support of the security of the army intelligence in the northern Bekaa.
Hajjar told reporters: “This is a national day par excellence. We are keeping up with the voluntary flights that have taken off towards the Lebanese-Syrian border.”
He stressed that “the political decision has been made, come back and then come back, there are other payments and we will continue”.
Lebanese General Security is expected to reveal the details and statistics of today’s convoys in a statement this evening.
On Tuesday, Lebanese director of public security, Major General Abbas Ibrahim, said his country “will not force any refugees to return to Syria”.
He explained that “there are two million and 80,000 Syrians currently displaced in Lebanon and nearly 540,000 Syrians have voluntarily returned to their country since the start of the plan in 2017”.
The voluntary return flights of Syrian refugees, stopped since 2019 due to the spread of the Corona virus, will resume today, in implementation of a Lebanese repatriation initiative for those who wish to return voluntarily, organized by the Public Security after communicating with the Syrian authorities.
Recently, the Lebanese government put in place a plan to bring 15,000 refugees back to Syria per month.
The plan, however, clashes with the rejection of the United Nations, which believe that security has not yet been established in Syria, and asks the Lebanese authorities to wait for the moment.
Most Syrian refugees live in poverty and their living conditions have deteriorated as Lebanon has plunged into economic and other energy supply problems since 2019.
In Syria, in mid-March 2011, popular protests erupted against President Bashar al-Assad, who called for a peaceful transfer of power, but chose to repress him militarily, which plunged the country into a devastating war that resulted in the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Syrians.
The news published on the official page of the Anadolu Agency is the abbreviation of a part of the news that is presented to subscribers through the News Stream System (HAS). To register with the agency, please contact the following link.
