Attachments
Jasmin Lilian Diab and Heaven Crawley
Introduction
With an estimated 1.5 million Syrian refugees within its borders, Lebanon hosts the highest proportion of refugees worldwide. Refugees and hosts alike have been forced into extreme poverty and higher protection risks as a result of the nation’s escalating socio-economic crisis. The Government of Lebanon stated in 2022 that it would send 15,000 Syrian refugees home to their country each month, insisting that Syria was now safe for return, and also willing to welcome refugees back. Human rights organizations, however, continue to gather evidence on Syrians being arbitrarily arrested, subjected to sexual assault, forcibly disappeared, and tortured upon returning home. Testimonies from Syrians confirm this.
In a context where the issue of return has become deeply politicized, it is essential that we consider how the repatriation of Syrian refugees from Lebanon should proceed, paying close attention to protection principles and prerequisites for safe return, while also taking into consideration broader discussions about Lebanon’s approach to repatriation, the position of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and its role, as well as regional and global discussions on how return can become durable and sustainable. With this in mind, UNU-CPR and the Institute for Migration Studies at the Lebanese American University convened a migration policy roundtable in Beirut to explore these issues in more detail and identify concrete ways forward for policy and practice.