Fear among Syrian refugees as Lebanon increases deportations

 

Lebanon: In the midst of a deteriorating economic crisis and political impasse, Lebanese authorities are harshly repressing Syrian refugees, which has led to terror among Syrians living there.

According to refugees and humanitarian organisations, the army has stormed refugee camps and set up checkpoints to examine the identification of non-Lebanese nationals, detaining and frequently deporting Syrians deemed to lack legal status.

In the eastern Bekaa Valley of Lebanon, a lady who is originally from the Syrian region of Idlib remarked, "People aren't sleeping in their houses... and are afraid even to go to work." She said that her husband was deported on 10 April along with 28 other men during a raid on an apartment complex in the Jounieh neighbourhood of Beirut. Since that time, she hasn't heard from him.

The woman spoke on the condition of anonymity, just like other Syrians contacted for this article, out of concern for retaliation.

Every day, she added, her 4-year-old kid inquires about his whereabouts. She worries that her husband, who, like many males who fled to Lebanon, was sought for evading required army duty, has been detained in one of Syria's prison facilities.

There are now many ways to feel pressure. For Syrians, municipalities have implemented restrictive restrictions like curfews. The Interior Ministry declared on Tuesday that it has given municipalities the mandate to count and verify all Syrian residents before allowing them to rent property.

Additionally, it requested that Syrians who frequently travel between Lebanon and their war-torn nation have their refugee status revoked by the UN agency for refugees. A group of government officials asked last week that UNHCR turn over comprehensive personal data on refugees in its database.

Lebanon is home to some 805,000 officially recognised Syrian refugees, who are theoretically protected by their legal status. However, individuals who fail to maintain the validity of their residency documents risk being expulsed. Syria's government asked the UN to stop new registrations in 2015, although it is thought that the true number of Syrians residing in Lebanon after leaving their nation's 12-year civil conflict is substantially higher.