UN approving plan to return 30,000 refugees to Syria from Lebanon, despite grave human rights threats

The United Nations is reportedly green-lighting a plan to send 30,000 Syrian refugees from Lebanon to Syria, despite the threats of arrest, torture and rampant continued human rights violations they face at the hands of Bashar Al-Assad’s regime

According to Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA), UN Human Rights Office spokesperson, Ravina Shamdasani, revealed last week that the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is working on a plan for the voluntary repatriation of 30,000 Syrian refugees from Lebanon to Syria in the near future.

Shamdasani reportedly mentioned that plan during her meeting with Lebanese Foreign Minister, Abdallah Bou Habib, on Friday, stating that “there is momentum to build upon for early recovery efforts to facilitate the return of displaced people”

The move – reportedly set to be finalised within the coming weeks – was reportedly described by the UN as a “positive shift” in the Syrian regime’s handling of the issue surrounding the repatriation of Syrian refugees in Lebanon back to Syria, following years of stagnation on the matter and especially at a time of increased perception that Syria is safe to return to.

The apparent endorsement comes amid ongoing warnings by human rights groups over recent years and months of the threat returnees face back in Syria, with the Assad regime notoriously continuing its practice of arresting, detaining, torturing and sometimes killing refugees who return to their homeland, especially those deemed as having the potential to dissent against the regime or who have a previous connection to those who have done so.

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