Litani River Authority dismantles illegal Syrian refugee camp in Anjar

The national Litani River Authority (LRA) stated on Tuesday that it dismantled an illegal Syrian refugee camp in the village of Anjar in the Bekaa Valley.

"Based on a complaint filed by the National Litani River Authority, and as part of ongoing efforts to remove encroachments on public river properties, Camp No. 007 in the Aaqarbeh area – Anjar [Hawsh Moussa] has been dismantled and removed, with the support of security forces," reads the statement.

LRA added that "this step was carried out in accordance with established legal procedures and with the aim of protecting water resources and the environment from sources of pollution, particularly those resulting from illegal camps set up along the banks of the Litani River."

In previous years, the Litani Authority had dismantled a large number of informal Syrian refugee camps along the river due to their catastrophic ecological impact on the waterway.

Lebanon still hosts more than a million Syrian refugees who left Syria following the start of the war there in 2011. After the regime change in Damascus in December 2024, several thousand returned to their homeland.