More Than 400 Refugees Return from Lebanon to Syria

Syrian refugees gather as they prepare to return home to Syria in Beirut, Lebanon, 15 October 2025. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
Syrian refugees gather as they prepare to return home to Syria in Beirut, Lebanon, 15 October 2025. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
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More Than 400 Refugees Return from Lebanon to Syria

Syrian refugees gather as they prepare to return home to Syria in Beirut, Lebanon, 15 October 2025. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
Syrian refugees gather as they prepare to return home to Syria in Beirut, Lebanon, 15 October 2025. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH

More than 400 Syrian refugees returned home from Lebanon in cooperation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Lebanese Red Cross and humanitarian organizations.

Syria’s state news Agency, SANA, said that “406 Syrian refugees arrived on Wednesday at the Jedeidet Yabous crossing in Damascus countryside as part of the voluntary return program from Lebanon to Syria.”

In July, the UNHCR and IOM launched the Organized Voluntary Return Program to support Syrians in Lebanon who voluntarily decide to return to Syria to do so in a dignified and safe manner.

They said in a joint statement that the program “is part of a wider effort to help Syrian refugees return to Syria.”

“Refugees who request support can benefit from transportation from a designated area within Lebanon to one of the official border crossing points to a final destination within Syria, in coordination with the Government of Lebanon and including facilitation from the General Security Office,” the statement said.

Last week, a total of 163 refugees returned to Syria from Lebanon under the program.

They crossed the Arida border crossing from the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli to reach Homs and Idlib in Syria.

As of late 2025, approximately 300,000 Syrian refugees have returned to Syria from Lebanon.



EU Condemns Israel's West Bank Control Measures

The Israeli settlement of Har Homa, seen from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP)
The Israeli settlement of Har Homa, seen from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP)
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EU Condemns Israel's West Bank Control Measures

The Israeli settlement of Har Homa, seen from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP)
The Israeli settlement of Har Homa, seen from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP)

The European Union on Monday condemned new Israeli measures to tighten control of the West Bank and pave the way for more settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, AFP reported.

"The European Union condemns recent decisions by Israel's security cabinet to expand Israeli control in the West Bank. This move is another step in the wrong direction," EU spokesman Anouar El Anouni told journalists.


Atrocities in Sudan's El-Fasher Were 'Preventable Human Rights Catastrophe'

Sudanese displaced people who left El Fasher after its fall, sit in the shade in Tawila at the Rwanda camp reception point on December 17, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Sudanese displaced people who left El Fasher after its fall, sit in the shade in Tawila at the Rwanda camp reception point on December 17, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
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Atrocities in Sudan's El-Fasher Were 'Preventable Human Rights Catastrophe'

Sudanese displaced people who left El Fasher after its fall, sit in the shade in Tawila at the Rwanda camp reception point on December 17, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Sudanese displaced people who left El Fasher after its fall, sit in the shade in Tawila at the Rwanda camp reception point on December 17, 2025. (Photo by AFP)

The atrocities unleashed on El-Fasher in Sudan's Darfur region last October were a "preventable human rights catastrophe", the United Nations said Monday, warning they now risked being repeated in the neighbouring Kordofan region.

 

"My office sounded the alarm about the risk of mass atrocities in the besieged city of El-Fasher for more than a year ... but our warnings were ignored," UN rights chief Volker Turk told the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

 

He added that he was now "extremely concerned that these violations and abuses may be repeated in the Kordofan region".

 

 

 

 


Arab League Condemns Israel's Decisions to Alter Legal, Administrative Status of West Bank

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
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Arab League Condemns Israel's Decisions to Alter Legal, Administrative Status of West Bank

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)

The General Secretariat of the Arab League strongly condemned decisions by Israeli occupation authorities to impose fundamental changes on the legal and administrative status of the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly in the West Bank, describing them as a dangerous escalation and a flagrant violation of international law, international legitimacy resolutions, and signed agreements, SPA reported.

In a statement, the Arab League said the measures include facilitating the confiscation of private Palestinian property and transferring planning and licensing authorities in the city of Hebron and the area surrounding the Ibrahimi Mosque to occupation authorities.

It warned of the serious repercussions of these actions on the rights of the Palestinian people and on Islamic and Christian holy sites.

The statement reaffirmed the Arab League’s firm support for the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, foremost among them the establishment of their independent state on the June 4, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.