Press release
Syrian Opposition Coalition
Department of Media and Communications
April 20, 2023
The Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC) unequivocally denounces the ongoing violations committed by the Lebanese government against Syrian refugees. Recent reports reveal an increase in arbitrary arrests and deportations of refugees to areas controlled by the Assad regime. These actions blatantly disregard the internationally recognized rights of refugees and pose an imminent danger to their lives if they were to return.
The latest actions of the Lebanese government put the victims at risk of falling prey to the executioner. Syrian refugees escaped the oppressive regime of Assad and his brutal security apparatus, which has a notorious history of large-scale detention of regime opponents and systematic torture that often leads to death.
The SOC urgently appeals to the United Nations and international human rights organizations to take immediate action to protect Syrian refugees in Lebanon, who have become victims of the Lebanese government’s violations. The SOC highlights that many refugees who were forcibly deported earlier to areas controlled by the Assad regime were immediately arrested, falsely charged, and imprisoned in detention centers that human rights groups have described as “human slaughterhouses.”
