Ahmad Baccora, Coordinator of the Refugees and Displaced Persons Working Group in the Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC), said that human rights organizations have documented the arrests of refugees returning from Lebanon to areas controlled by the Assad regime in recent days. The return of refugees has surged due to the intensification of Israeli occupation’s airstrikes on Lebanon and discriminatory practices by Lebanese authorities, which deny refugees access to shelter, food, and medicine.
In a statement, Baccora emphasized that thousands of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, many of whom are wanted by the Assad regime, have been forced to return to regime-held areas with their families in the past few days. He explained that these refugees were left with no choice but to flee the bombings and the discrimination they faced at the hands of Lebanese authorities, which hindered aid organizations from providing them with essential services.
Baccora also highlighted the dangerous fate awaiting Syrian refugees who return to regime-controlled areas, pointing to the deaths of many returnees at the hands of the Assad regime, as documented by human rights groups.
He urged the United Nations to swiftly establish a mechanism to protect Syrian refugees returning to regime-held areas and to prevent the regime from arresting, torturing, or killing them. Baccora also called on the UNHCR to find a quick solution for the hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees in Lebanon who are unable to return to areas under the regime’s control.
(Source: SOC’s Media Department)