13th 'voluntary return' convoy to Syria set for Wednesday

BEIRUT — General Security is organizing a 13th convoy on Wednesday morning as part of the Lebanese government's “voluntary return” plan for Syrian refugees. The buses will leave shortly after 6 a.m. from the Arab University of Beirut's Taanayel branch, in Zahle district, before heading to Syria via the Masnaa border crossing in the Bekaa.

The convoys have been carried out in cooperation with Syrian authorities, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the Lebanese Red Cross, as well as with various other humanitarian organizations.

Since July 2025, a total of 380,000 Syrians have returned to their homeland from Lebanon through the government's program, according to figures released Monday by Social Affairs Minister Haneen Sayed, and have subsequently been removed from UNHCR's registry of refugees in Lebanon. A total of 400,000 Syrian refugees have returned since the beginning of the year, according to UNHCR, following the ousting of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.

Sayed also noted that, in addition to those who have already returned, around 74,000 people are registered to partake in upcoming convoys. The Lebanese plan includes $100 in aid for each refugee wishing to leave, as well as an exemption from fines for those whose residency was undocumented.

In agreeing to be taken to Syria via the convoy program, participants are also required to pledge that they will never return to Lebanon as asylum seekers.

Parallel to the program, UNHCR has drawn up a plan to support those returning to Syria, where destruction from the 13-year-long civil war continues to plague the quality of life, and where various regions are still experiencing sectarian tensions and are prone to outbreaks of violence.

Support from the U.N. ranges from “small housing repairs” to financial aid and basic necessities. Many Syrians in Lebanon are hesitant to travel back due to the scale of destruction and the catastrophic economic situation.

Since 2011, Lebanon has hosted hundreds of thousands of displaced Syrians fleeing war and violence in their country.

According to a UNHCR estimate dated March 31, 2025, the number of officially registered Syrian refugees in Lebanon stands at 722,173. However, the actual number of Syrians residing in Lebanon was estimated at 1.4 million before the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime, as UNHCR was told by the Lebanese government to stop registering new refugees as of May 2015.