Lebanon deported around 50 Syrians back to Syria in the past two weeks, as anti-Syrian sentiment grows amid a dire economic crisis, security officials said Friday.
"The army has deported more than 50 Syrians from Lebanon in the past two weeks," an army official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to the press.
Local officials and a humanitarian source told the agency that the Syrians were handed over to border guards who then moved them to Syrian territories.
"The army’s detention centers are full," and other security agencies have refused to take in the arrested refugees, the army official said, commenting on the move.
"So the army had to take this measure and place them outside Lebanese borders," he added.
Hundreds of thousands of Syrians fled to neighboring Lebanon after the country’s civil war began in 2011 with the brutal suppression of anti-regime protests.
The security and army officials said that Lebanese authorities did not coordinate the effort with Damascus, adding that some of the expelled refugees had returned to Lebanon with the help of smugglers who charged them $100 per person.
A security source confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that dozens of Syrians have been deported from Lebanon in the past few days. He said that lately, this has been happening periodically and that the Syrians are deported after being stopped at the border by the army for trying to enter Lebanon illegally.
"After arresting them, the army hands the Syrians over to the Lebanese General Security, which deports them based on a decision by the Lebanese judiciary," the source said.
The source also confirmed that a number of the Syrians entering Lebanon illegally have a work permit or a refugee card.
"Despite having legal permits, those Syrians tend to leave and enter Lebanon through illegal crossings to avoid having their names registered at the General Security."
He explained that when UNHCR is informed by the General Security that the Syrians have crossed the borders, the agency removes their refugee status.
Also, the Syrians opt for this measure to evade a Syrian government measure, which stipulates that each Syrian entering Syria must exchange $100 for Syrian pounds at the official rate.
There are about two million Syrian refugees in Lebanon, according to authorities, of whom only about 830,000 are registered with the UN.
The UN refugee agency on Friday said it was "following up" on the reports, and that it "continues to advocate for the respect of principles of international law and ensure that refugees in Lebanon are protected from refoulement", or the forcible return of refugees or asylum seekers to a country where they are likely to be persecuted.
A humanitarian source told AFP they had noticed increased army intelligence raids on Syrian communities in Beirut and the Mount Lebanon area since the beginning of the month.
About 450 Syrians have been arrested and 66 confirmed deportations, they said.
Lebanon’s General Security is in charge of foreigners' affairs in the country and border monitoring, but an official at the agency said they were not involved in the deportations.
One of the deported Syrians was an army defector, a relative said, warning that "his life is in danger."
He had been living in Lebanon since 2014 and was expelled with his wife and two children, he said.
