Lebanon starts deporting Syrian refugees back home amid ongoing crackdown

The Lebanese authorities have started to forcedly deport Syrian refugees back to their homes amid a crackdown that pushed one Syrian man to commit suicide to escape deportation.

The threat of deportation of the Syrian refugees was a Lebanese card of pressure to get money from the international community. However, this time deportation is not a threat anymore, as hundreds of refugees were sent back to Syria. 

In special comments to Jusoor Post, a Syrian refugee in Lebanon, who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons, said that the deportation process started since the second day of Eid Al-Fitr (April 21). 

The London-based Access Center for Human Rights (ACHR) accused the Lebanese government of “forced deportation, arbitrary arrest, and arbitrary security raids.” It documented 542 cases of arbitrary arrests, especially in West Beqaa and Zahle, more than 13 security raids, and the deportation of 200 refugees through border crossings from the beginning of April until April 28. Also, on April 27, the Lebanese army raided a Syrian refugee camp in Al Qaraaoon village, southern Beqaa, to arrest and deport about 300 Syrian refugees, according to AlJumhuriya.net.

The deportation process took place in various ways. First, checkpoints have been set up to check for irregular refugees or those who have no valid residency to deport them back, said another Syrian refugee who refused to be named for his security, but we will refer to him as “Mohamed”.

He added that another way is through raids, especially on places inhabited by a large number of Syrians, such as camps or densely populated areas.

“In the beginning, several people were deported, including some of those who are wanted by the Syrian regime or defectors from the regime. Those people are at risk of being handed over to the regime,” he continued.

Mohamed said that arrested refugees have been immediately sent to the Syrian regime, to the extent that one Syrian refugee in Lebanon who feared that he would be handed over to the regime, Anas Ali Al-Musaytif, committed suicide, “because if the regime was handed wanted people, they will either remain in prison for the rest of their lives or they will die under torture.” Syrians on social media offered condolences for the death of Musaytif.

“In case he [the deportee] was wanted for military service, they [the Syrian authorities] would take him to the army to serve against his will and leave him to fight on the nearest fighting point in Syria. He would be lucky if he still lives thereafter,” Mohamed added.

How to avoid deportation?

Syrians on Facebook groups voiced their fear, asking several questions about possible ways to escape deportation, especially those who are not registered with the UNHCR.

Mohamed also told Jusoor Post that getting a residency permit is quite difficult, especially after mid-April 2019 since the issuance of the Lebanese Supreme Defense Council’s decision allowing the deportation of irregular refugees, as the only way for them to reside in the country legally now is as a foreign laborer with a Lebanese work guarantor instead of an asylum seeker.

“There are families who have been registered at the UNHCR for ten years, and there are people who own residency permits have been deported. What is happening is very weird,” he continued, adding that Syrian refugees should avoid checkpoints to avoid the Lebanese authorities or look for a Lebanese work guarantor. 

As for Syrian dissidents who left military duty from the Syrian Army and therefore do not have an identity card and consequently will not be able to find a work guarantor, “it is necessary for him to stay home and not move to places where deportation occurs or checkpoints are set up,” he continued.

Lebanon has been hosting 805,326 legally registered Syrian refugees since the registration was suspended in 2015 as per a decision by the former Lebanese government, according to the official website of the UNHCR. However, the total number of Syrians [regular and irregular] in Lebanon is estimated by the UNHCR at 1.5 million people, while the country is in need of $3.59 billion to meet the needs of Syrian and Palestinian refugees, as well the Lebanese people.

Deportation is a ‘sovereign decision'

Caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said, “Lebanon does not agree to legalize the status of the displaced because it is not a country of asylum and a non-signatory state of the 1951 Refugee Convention,” adding in an interview with MTV Lebanon that decisions related to the displaced are sovereign ones.

“Lebanon does not accept asylum, and it is calling for a return plan for the displaced and a timeframe for it,” he continued.