A young Syrian refugee boy plays alone in an abandoned camp in the village of Arsal, in the Bekaa, on Oct, 1st, 2025. (Credit: Zeina Antonios/L'Orient-Le Jour)
BEIRUT — Lebanese Environment Minister Tamara al-Zein noted on Saturday during a visit to Arsal (Baalbeck district) that "the damage is very significant and the pollution is severe" following the voluntary return of displaced persons to Syria, adding that she will address this issue in the Cabinet.
“We are now facing a sanitation problem, a waste problem and a problem of dumps mixed with abandoned waste. A plan is needed to address the environmental situation, but the problem facing Arsal is serious because neither the municipality nor the government has the capacity to resolve it, in accordance with the law,” the minister emphasized at the end of her tour.
“The damage is very significant and the pollution is severe,” she added.
She indicated that “neither the municipality of Arsal nor any other municipality can bear the burden alone of the environmental damage we have observed today, which extends across the entire area of the village,” noting that it “has 50,000 inhabitants, while the number of displaced persons reached 150,000.”
“Those who pollute and cause damage must repair it ... 140,000 displaced people have left the camp, and the organizations that cared for them must take responsibility for repairing the environmental damage caused by their presence," she added.
For his part, the mayor of Arsal, Mounir Hojeiri, confirmed that "the damage is significant and the municipality has neither the means nor the capacity to repair it."
He also stated that the responsibility for repairs lies with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Thousands of Syrian refugees who lived in Arsal have returned to their country since the fall of the old regime in December 2024.
All that remains of the 180 refugee camps in the locality are empty alleyways, abandoned concrete structures, waste and rubble.
