Preparations for the repatriation of 450 Syrian refugees to their towns in the western Damascus countryside next week have revealed efforts by close associates of the Syrian regime in Lebanon to find settlements for Syrians wanted by the authorities.
Current efforts are focused on guaranteeing the return of the wanted individuals under Russian and Syrian guarantees that they would not be arrested. However, the plan would not exempt those people from compulsory military service.
The repatriation of Syrian refugees is being implemented in three separate axes. The first is conducted by Syrians who have connections with the refugees in the camps and who have organized three convoys starting from June 2017 towards the western villages of Qalamoun.
The second is handled by Hezbollah, which has recently announced a plan to facilitate the return of the displaced, through communication with the Syrian regime. The third is led by Lebanese figures and aims to facilitate the return of Syrian regime opponents and deserters, who have entered Lebanon illegally between 2011 and 2013.
Efforts to repatriate the last category have shown that the Syrian regime has expanded the efforts of reconciliation to include hundreds of opponents in Lebanon, who live in the central and western Bekaa regions.
Lebanese Zafer al-Nakhlawi, along with other Lebanese figures close to the Syrian regime, are coordinating with the office of Major General Maher al-Assad, the brother of Syrian Regime head Bashar al-Assad. The displaced are receiving guarantees from Damascus and Russia.
Nakhlawi told Asharq Al-Awsat that settling the status of regime opponents “will encourage others, who do not have any security files, to return to their country.”
He said that he provided lists of hundreds of people originally from the Damascus countryside, in order to get the authorities’ approval on their return in batches.
Nakhlawi, a Lebanese from the Bekaa region, says he does not belong to any political party, but has “relations” with Syrian figures that allowed him to take on this mission, which he describes as aimed at “helping the Lebanese and Syrians to coordinate the return of the displaced.”
Nakhlawi said that a new batch of Syrian dissidents is seeking to return next week, including 450 people who will head to the towns of Zabadani and Bloudan in the western suburbs of Damascus.
