Lebanon says 551 refugees returned to Syria

A group of Syrian refugees is seen in a refugee camp after their tent camp was set on fire in clashes between a group of Lebanese and Syrian refugees in Tripoli, Lebanon on January 03, 2021. [Mahmut Geldi – Anadolu Agency]

Lebanon said, Thursday, it had secured the voluntary return of 511 refugees to Syria, in coordination with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Anadolu News Agency reports.

“The refugees returned aboard vehicles secured by the Syrian authorities,” the Lebanese General Security Directorate said in a statement.

On Wednesday, the Lebanese authorities resumed the repatriation of Syrian refugees to their home country, after a 3-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Lebanese government plans to return 15,000 Syrian refugees to Syria every month, but the scheme was met with criticism from the United Nations, which says that security in Syria has not yet been restored.

Lebanon hosts around 1.5 million Syrian refugees, about 900,000 of whom are registered at UNHCR.

Most of the refugees suffer from tough living conditions, especially with the exacerbation of the Lebanese economic crisis, on one hand, and the global economic crisis, on the other.

READ: Lebanon begins repatriation of Syria refugees in first since covid

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