Lebanese and Syrian officials met in Syria on Monday to discuss a plan to deport 15,000 Syrian refugees from Lebanon per month, despite intense public criticism.<\/p>\n
The two country's officials released a statement after the meeting that "there is a consensus in the vision between the Syrian and Lebanese sides regarding the return of all refugees, not just 15,000 displaced persons per month."<\/p>\n
The meetings were held between the Lebanese Minister of Displaced Issam Sharafeddine and the Syrian Minister of Local Administration and Environment, Hussein Makhlouf, and Syria's Interior Minister.<\/p>\n
Lebanon announced a plan to begin deporting Syrian refugees back to Syria on 4 July, despite the UNHCR's and human rights monitors' protests. Lebanon hosts 1.5 million Syrian refugees, most of whom live in dire conditions.
\nLebanese officials insisted in Monday's meeting that a "safe, dignified and voluntary return" would be ensured for Syrian refugees. Syrian officials in turn said that amnesty would be guaranteed for returning refugees.<\/p>\n
Rights organisations regularly report that conditions in Syria are not safe for return. A report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) in October 2021 said that returnees were exposed to arbitrary arrest and violence at the hands of Syrian regime forces.<\/p>\n
"Most of Syria is controlled by the same leader and his notorious security agencies, the same perpetrator of crimes against humanity that refugees fled in the first place," Nadia Hardman, a researcher with HRW, told The New Arab.<\/p>\n
"Forcing refugees back to Syria breaches Lebanon's customary international law obligation not to return someone to a place where they may face grave human rights violation," Hardman said.<\/p>\n
While Lebanon has not signed the 1951 Refugee Convention, it is still obligated under international law not to return asylum seekers to areas where they would be in danger.<\/p>\n
She added that HRW has documented cases of refugees who were given amnesty by the regime being tortured by regime forces upon their return.<\/p>\n
Lebanon and Syria's refugee return plan would see Syrians returned to their cities and villages, where they would be put in temporary resettlement centres until the areas were "refurbished."<\/p>\n
The details of this plan have not been released and analysts have expressed doubts that either state would have the capacity to implement such a wide-reaching program.<\/p>\n
"The problem with these so-called resettlement centres is that there will be no transparent and accountable way of monitoring the human rights situation within them. Any violations will simply go unreported," Hardman said.<\/p>\n
Syrian officials on Monday claimed that "five million displaced Syrians" have already been resettled in such a way. "They have become stable in their areas with full services being provided," Makhlouf said.<\/p>\n
Contrary to Syrian figures, the UN has reported that only about 315,000 Syrian refugees have returned since 2016.<\/p>\n
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