People queue to process paperwork at General Security in Beirut's Adlieh area. (Credit: Zeina Antonios)
BEIRUT — An LGBTQI human rights defender has been detained in Beirut and faces possible involuntary repatriation to Jordan. In a statement released Saturday, Amnesty International Australia said the person in question, who it refers to as AOA to protect their identity, was granted a Humanitarian Visa by Australia and was set to leave Lebanon on Thursday.
Here’s what we know:
• According to the statement, AOA was arrested Tuesday, explaining that AOA was “paying fees to Lebanese authorities when they were suddenly taken into custody” and told that there was an Interpol Red Notice for their arrest.
• Amnesty International Australia says that following the organization’s challenge, “it is understood that the Red Notice has been canceled.” However, AOA is still being arbitrarily detained.
• Amnesty International believes that their prominent family in Jordan is a factor in their detention. AOA escaped Jordan in July 2020, first fleeing to Turkey, and then Lebanon.
• Veronica Koman, Amnesty International Australia’s strategic advocacy campaigner, has called on Lebanese authorities “to cooperate with the Australian authorities and the United Nations in Lebanon to ensure AOA can board the plane to Australia.”
• Though not a signatory of the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, Lebanon is bound by the international principle of non-refoulement, meaning refugees cannot be sent back to their country against their will. However, two weeks ago, Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi ordered the deportation of all non-Lebanese members of the exiled Bahraini opposition group al-Wifaq.