BEIRUT — Lebanon's caretaker Minister of Social Affairs, Hector Hajjar, announced Tuesday that the gradual repatriation of Syrian refugees living in Lebanon will begin Wednesday at 6 a.m.

Lebanese authorities have previously promised the returns will be "voluntary" and "safe." 

In July, caretaker Minister of the Displaced Issam Charafeddine announced a plan to repatriate Syrian refugees residing in Lebanon with the goal of returning “15,000 displaced people per month.” This plan has been contested by several NGOs and international organizations, claim the return is dangerous due to human rights violations in Syria.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has repeatedly stated it is not involved in Lebanon's repatriation plan.

On Oct. 12, the President of the Republic, Michel Aoun, announced Lebanon would begin "gradually" repatriating Syrian refugees "next week," but no repatriation has taken place so far.

Last Friday, caretaker Minister of Displaced Persons, Issam Charafeddine, told al-Jadeed channel that 6,000 Syrian refugees will be repatriated on Wednesday in "three convoys." That same day, Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdelkarim Ali said "more than 89 percent of Syrian refugees want to be repatriated.''

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Following a Tuesday visit to the Arsal region in the Bekaa, Hajjar announced during a press conference that "the return will take place safely and without pressure."

"The first group of refugees will head Wednesday from Arsal to the Lebanese-Syrian border" at 6 a.m. to be repatriated, he added.

Lebanese officials have been pushing for the return of Syrian refugees for years. Still, the UNHCR and broader international community pushed back, deeming the return dangerous due to ongoing human rights violations in Syria, a country ravaged by a civil war since 2011. According to UN figures, about 1.5 million Syrian refugees are living on Lebanese soil.

'Pressure'

"Lebanon refutes the way humanitarian organizations and others who claim to be humanitarian organizations are approaching this issue with our country and dictating their will to it," said General Security Director Abbas Ibrahim at a Tuesday press conference, according to the state-run National News Agency. "We will not submit to pressure because the interest of the Lebanese people is the most important."

He added that "no refugee will be forced to be repatriated."

Ibrahim praised "Syria's transparency" in dealing with the issue of repatriating refugees, and added that "540,000 refugees have been voluntarily repatriated to Syria since 2017."