Beirut: Lebanon on Thursday announced that it had secured the voluntary return of 511 Syrian refugees, in coordination with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
In a statement, the Lebanese General Security said that its members “accompanied the displaced refugees who set off on buses secured by the Syrian authorities for this purpose.”
He reported that a number of returnees boarded their own vehicles or rented Lebanese vehicles from the specific gathering points in the city of Tripoli and al-Aboudiyah (north), Nabatiyeh (south), and from Aley, al-Masnaa, and Arsal all the way to the Lebanese-Syrian border (east).
On Wednesday, October 26, the first phase of the voluntary return of Syrian refugees from Lebanon to their country was launched under the supervision of the Lebanese army and Lebanese General security, after they had been suspended since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In Syria, in mid-March 2011, popular protests erupted against President Bashar al-Assad, demanding a peaceful transfer of power, but he chose to suppress it militarily, which plunged the country into a devastating war that resulted in the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Syrians.
After the outbreak of the conflict in Syria in 2011, Lebanon became a destination for hundreds of thousands of Syrians who fled their areas as the war progressed.
The Lebanese authorities currently estimate the presence of more than 1.5 million Syrian refugees on its territory, while the number of those registered with the United Nations is about 830,000.
About 540,000 Syrians have voluntarily returned to their country since the plan began in 2017.
Most of the Syrian refugees live in poverty, and their living conditions have worsened as Lebanon has plunged into economic and other energy supply problems since 2019.
According to UNHCR, Lebanon, with a total population of about 6.7 million, continues to be the country hosting the largest number of refugees per capita and per square kilometre.
