Screenshot from video circulating on social media claiming to be for Syrians in Lebanon being transported illegally. (Credit: facebook.com/JohnyElSaddik)
BEIRUT — The Facebook page "Nahna Ouyounak Ya Lebanon" (We are Lebanon's eyes) posted a video on their social media account on Saturday, showing a closed truck without license plates at the intersection of the town of Ghazir, Keserouan, claiming that it is for Syrians being "transported illegally in Lebanon."
The video depicts the back door of the truck opening, with several young men disembarking before boarding waiting buses. The video, purportedly filmed in Ghazir, claims to show a closed truck transporting young Syrian men illegally from an undisclosed location, followed by buses distributing them across various areas of Lebanon. The Facebook page made these claims without providing evidence of the individuals' Syrian nationality or their legal status in Lebanon.
The page frequently posts content warning about the perceived dangers of "demographic change in Lebanon," a country officially home to approximately 1.3 million Syrian refugees and about 250,000 Palestinians, giving it the highest refugee population per capita globally. Concerns about shifts in Lebanon's political and religious balance are often raised, sometimes for populist purposes and often based on incomplete or inaccurate data, as Lebanon has not conducted an official census since 1932.
A source from the Lebanese army, speaking to L'Orient Today on Sunday, said that "the individuals seen may be Syrian workers relocated between areas by a contractor for employment purposes. The situation is under investigation."
Lebanese officials frequently advocate for the repatriation of Syrian refugees, despite reports from NGOs and rights groups documenting cases where returnees face detention or conscription into the Syrian military. In 2023, over 4,000 civilians and combatants were reportedly killed in Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
