Human Rights Watch stressed that the forced return of Syrian refuges by Lebanon would be “unsafe and unlawful.”
In a report issued on Wednesday, the rights group said that any forced returns to Syria would amount to a “breach of Lebanon’s refoulement obligations not to forcibly return people to countries where they face a clear risk of torture or other persecution.”
“Contrary to the minister’s statements, Syria is anything but safe for returnees. Syrian refugees who returned between 2017 and 2021 from Lebanon and Jordan faced grave human rights abuses and persecution at the hands of the Syrian government and affiliated militias,” HRW added.
The Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC) on Wednesday issued a press release calling on the international community to swift direct action to prevent any forcible deportation of Syrian refugees from Lebanon.
The SOC stressed that the Lebanese government’s plans for forced deportation means that the Al-Tadamon Massacre may be repeated as the regime’s repressive apparatus continues to arbitrarily arrest civilians in regime-held areas.
It called on the Lebanese government to stop any deportation plan, and to respect the international laws on the protection of refugees and the safeguarding of their rights. It held the Lebanese government responsible for any harm that may happen to refugees.
(Source: SOC’s Media Department)
