Roughly 350 Syrian refugees repatriated in second convoy from Lebanon

BEIRUT — Approximately 350 Syrian refugees were driven across the border early Saturday as part of the second convoy in Lebanon's repatriation plan. 

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.”

The plan has been criticized by the UN over safety concerns for refugees returning to Syria. Lebanese authorities have repeatedly insisted the initiative is "voluntary." 

'Stay neutral'

According to L'Orient Today's correspondent in the Bekaa, over 300 Syrians returned Saturday morning from Arsal, passing through the Zamarani crossing at the Lebanese-Syrian border.

Caretaker Social Affairs Minister Hector Hajjar who supervised the trips in Arsal said he "advises the international community to stay neutral."

"In this case, what is the harm for the international community that we launch voluntary return trips?" Hajjar asked, adding that they should only intervene "in case of issues [during the trips]." He also said there will be "a third, fourth and fifth return convoy."

During the first repatriation convoy last week, several buses of Syrian refugee families were repatriated from different areas in Lebanon, including Nabatieh, Tripoli and Arsal, a town in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley

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When asked about reports that three Syrians who were aboard the previous convoy were detained in Syria, Hajjar said that the three detainees were not registered.

"Of course, the Syrian authorities will detain them since they were not registered ... We wish that the Syrians who want to return abide by the rules," he said.

In Tripoli, in North Lebanon, another convoy gathered next to the city's Serail. According to L'Orient Today's correspondent in the north, approximately 12 people were returned in that convoy. They departed Lebanon via the Aboudiyeh crossing before entering Syria.

UNHCR confirmed to L'Orient Today that they were present in Arsal and Tripoli during the convoys' departure.

"UNHCR respects refugees’ fundamental human right to freely and voluntarily return to their country of origin at a time of their choosing, in line with the international principles of voluntary, dignified and safe return and non-refoulment," Paula Barrachina, a UNHCR spokesperson told L'Orient Today. "Thousands of refugees choose to exercise their right to return each year. UNHCR respects the decisions made by refugees," she added.

"The General Security Office is facilitating, on behalf of the Government of Lebanon, the return of Syrians whom GSO says had expressed their wish to return and registered with GSO to do so. While the GSO-facilitated return movements are not a UNHCR process, UNHCR is involved with ... reaching out and counseling refugees, when possible, and being present at the departure points, prior to their return," Barrachina concluded.

Rights groups have criticized the returns as potentially dangerous. “In enthusiastically facilitating these returns, the Lebanese authorities are knowingly putting Syrian refugees at risk of suffering from heinous abuse,” said human rights watchdog Amnesty International earlier last month, condemning the plan despite its apparent emphasis on voluntary return.

General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim responded to international criticisms last week, claiming the trips are in “the interest of the Lebanese people.”

Syrian refugees in Lebanon have reported discriminatory practices including “arrests at checkpoints … raids on camps, adoption of stricter movement rules, and tensions between host and refugee communities," the Access Center for Human Rights, a refugees watchdog group in Lebanon, told L'Orient Today in August.

Reporting contributed by Sara Abdallah and Michel Hallak.