Trucks crossing the Masnaa border crossing from Lebanon into Syria. (Credit: Screenshot from a video provided by Sarah Abdallah)
BEIRUT — About 300 Syrian refugees returned Thursday morning from Lebanon to Syria through the Jdeidet Yabous crossing on the Syrian side, adjacent to Masnaa on Lebanon’s eastern border, according to Syria’s state news agency SANA and the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR).
“This operation is part of the second phase of voluntary returns from Lebanon to Syria” organized by UNHCR, SANA said. On the Lebanese side, General Security coordinated the operation.
The repatriation, organized jointly by Lebanese authorities and the U.N., took place as more than 200 trucks have been transporting Syrian refugees and migrants back into Syria through Masnaa daily, according to L’Orient Today's Bekaa correspondent, adding that General Security is also taking steps to facilitate the departures of vehicles loaded with furniture and tents through Lebanese customs.
In a statement, UNHCR confirmed that “about 300 Syrian refugees voluntarily returned to Syria today as part of a movement facilitated by UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), in collaboration with Lebanese General Security.”
Refugees had gathered at dawn in Beirut, where UNHCR and IOM teams assessed their needs, provided information and counseling, and distributed essential aid. A convoy of buses and trucks then transported them and their belongings to final destinations in Homs, Hama and Idlib.
Since the start of 2025, more than 238,000 Syrians have returned from Lebanon, and more than 114,000 have expressed interest in the U.N.-backed voluntary return program, according to UNHCR.
The agency said it and IOM had increased support to ensure safe and dignified returns, including financial aid, legal counseling and transportation. A schedule of upcoming convoys has also been established. Both agencies urged significant investment in return areas in Syria to make the process sustainable.
Lebanese authorities, who say the country hosts more than 1.5 million Syrians — over 755,000 of them registered with the U.N. — have rolled out a plan for gradual returns. It offers $100 in aid to each refugee who chooses to leave, along with amnesty from fines for irregular stay. Applicants must pledge not to re-enter Lebanon as asylum seekers.
UNHCR has also developed a support plan for returnees, including small housing repairs, financial aid and basic supplies.
'Voluntary return'
On July 1, General Security announced exceptional measures allowing Syrian and Palestinian refugees to return to Syria without fees or fines until Sept. 30. After that date, laws on illegal residency would be strictly enforced.
The first stage of the “voluntary return” program supervised by UNHCR since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime officially began July 29, when 71 people from 16 families crossed Masnaa in three buses under General Security and IOM supervision. More than 126,000 Syrian refugees have been removed from UNHCR’s registry since Assad was ousted Dec. 8, 2024, the agency said.
Additional voluntary return convoys have been organized this year. Syria still had 13.5 million combined refugees and internally displaced people as of early June, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The group estimates the 14-year civil war killed more than 610,000 people, including 160,000 civilians and 25,000 children.
In late August, hundreds of refugees who fled after the war broke out in 2011 attempted to return via the Arida crossing, the only official checkpoint in northern Lebanon. The passage, damaged by Israeli strikes during and after last year’s war, was temporarily rehabilitated by Lebanon’s Public Works and Transport Ministry to allow crossings.
Pressure on Syrian refugees in Lebanon has sharply increased in recent years, with the country reeling from more than a year of war with Israel in 2024 and a severe economic crisis since 2019. Anti-Syrian hostility has been growing, flaring into violence last year after the killing of Lebanese Forces official Pascal Sleiman.
