Lebanon resumes voluntary repatriation of Syrian refugees

By Wassim Seif El-Din
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AA) – Lebanon resumed on Wednesday the voluntary repatriation of Syrian refugees to their home country after a three-year suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Authorities have specified 14 gathering points nationwide for refugees willing to return to Syria.

According to an Anadolu Agency reporter, around 500 Syrian refugees in Wadi Hamid area on the Lebanese-Syrian border await to be repatriated to their home country.

“This is a national day. We are keeping pace with the voluntary flights that took off to the Lebanese-Syrian border,” Minister of Social Affairs, Hector Hajjar told reporters.

On Tuesday, Lebanon said it will not forcibly return Syrian refugees to their home country.

The Lebanese government plans to return 15,000 Syrian refugees to Syria every month, but the plan was met with criticism from the United Nations, which says that security in Syria has not yet been restored.

Lebanon hosts around 1.5 million Syrian refugees, about 900,000 of whom are registered at UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Most of the refugees suffer from tough living conditions, especially with the exacerbation of the Lebanese economic crisis on one hand and the global economic crisis on the other.

*Ikram Imane Kouachi contributed to this report