Departure of a convoy of Syrian refugees under the auspices of the UNHCR and IOM on Oct. 2, 2025, in the Karantina neighborhood, east of Beirut. (Mohammad Yassin/L’Orient Today)
It is not yet 6 a.m. when the first names are called out in the parking lot of Beirut's industrial Karantina district, east of the city. Several Syrian families, luggage in hand, wait in front of U.N. employees donning blue vests, preparing to organize this third repatriation convoy to Syria.“You can only take the essentials,” says one of the workers, carefully inspecting suitcases, plastic bags, food, blankets and even a sisha pipe, while a sniffer dog and Lebanese soldiers search through personal belongings.Zeinab, 36, and her four sons wait to depart. “Only Ahmad, the eldest, was born in Syria. He was just 60 days old when we fled the war, 14 years ago,” she says.Ahmad and his younger brothers, excited about their first trip to Syria. (Mohammad Yassin/L'Orient-Le Jour) For many children born in Lebanon who are part of the...
It is not yet 6 a.m. when the first names are called out in the parking lot of Beirut's industrial Karantina district, east of the city. Several Syrian families, luggage in hand, wait in front of U.N. employees donning blue vests, preparing to organize this third repatriation convoy to Syria.“You can only take the essentials,” says one of the workers, carefully inspecting suitcases, plastic bags, food, blankets and even a sisha pipe, while a sniffer dog and Lebanese soldiers search through personal belongings.Zeinab, 36, and her four sons wait to depart. “Only Ahmad, the eldest, was born in Syria. He was just 60 days old when we fled the war, 14 years ago,” she says.Ahmad and his younger brothers, excited about their first trip to Syria. (Mohammad Yassin/L'Orient-Le Jour) For many children born in Lebanon who are part of...
