Lebanon will resume on Tuesday trips for Syrian refugees who have volunteered to return to their country.
The General Security directorate will operate two trips involving 300 refugees. The first convoy, carrying only ten refugees, will return through the Jousseh crossing in the al-Qaa region and head towards Syria’s Homs.
The second convoy will transport the remaining refugees and head towards the al-Qalamoun region. It will enter Syria through the illegal al-Zamarani crossing and will be received by Syrian security forces.
The majority of the returnees opted to head back home through illegal crossings because that allows them to transport their tents, furniture, cattle and vehicles. They are not allowed to do so through legal crossings, explained sources monitoring the process.
Security sources said the development was “indication of seriousness in handling the refugee file” even though the returning numbers are quite low in this first phase.
The two trips will “kickstart the beginning of addressing the Syrian refugee file as a whole,” they told Asharq Al-Awsat.
The voluntary return “has been put on the right track” and it is being handled seriously this time after about seven months since the last time refugees returned home, they continued.
They added that the security forces have set up a center in the border town of Arsal to receive and register refugees who are willing to return home.
The Syrian authorities have been cooperative with Lebanon’s efforts to ensure their return.
Syrian Mohammed Abdulaziz, who has been tasked with preparing the refugees for their return, revealed that several people have registered to voluntarily go back to their homes in the western al-Qalamoun and Damascus countryside regions.
In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, he said 50 more families have signed up to go back, but their names have yet to be referred to the general secretariat tasked with coordinating their file with Lebanon’s General Security.
He stressed that “all eyes are on Tuesday’s trips. If they pass smoothly, then more refugees will sign up to go home.”
Fierce debate has raged in Lebanon about the Syrian refugees given the social tensions that have emerged over their continued presence in the country.
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said criticism levelled against his government over this file have been aimed at “distracting it with pointless debates and disputes.”
“We will forge ahead with our work and in implementing decisions we have taken responsibly and with a clear conscience,” he added.
