A tattered civil registry notebook, among the documents brought from southern Lebanon to Beirut, on May 26, 2026. (Credit: Zeina Antonios/L’Orient-Le Jour archives)
The Lebanese Ministry of Interior and Municipalities announced Tuesday that the civil registry office in Sour, southern Lebanon, will reopen to citizens as of next week in its original premises, so they can carry out their administrative procedures "under normal conditions," after having been relocated in the spring because of the war.
"Through the Directorate General of Civil Status, the Interior and Municipalities Ministry has undertaken the necessary administrative and logistical procedures to reinstall the civil registry office in its original premises in the Sour district," the Ministry stated on X.
The records and documents of several civil registry offices located in southern regions bombarded by Israeli attacks had been transferred to the Ministry's headquarters in Beirut in order to protect them from destruction and ensure uninterrupted service for citizens.
These included the civil status records from the districts of Nabatieh, Marjayoun, Sour, as well as those of the subdistricts of Mais al-Jabal (Marjayoun), Jwayya (Sour), Jbaa (Nabatieh), and Tibnin (Bint Jbeil). Several of these offices remain inaccessible, especially those located in the area occupied by Israel in southern Lebanon.
In the absence of a decentralized and computerized civil registry system, this relocation had proven essential. To obtain documents from this authority, citizens generally have to complete their procedures in their village of origin.
