Syrians in Lebanon fear incarceration and torture if deported home.

With the civil war coming to an end, Lebanon launches a crackdown on undocumented refugees as political pressure rises to return those who crossed the border a decade ago. 

BEIRUT, Lebanese Arab Press Agency (AFP) — After escaping Syria's war nearly a decade ago, Samer and his family thought they had found shelter in Lebanon, but amid rising anti-refugee sentiment, Beirut turned his brother over to the Syrian army. 

Following the outbreak of civil war in 2011, and Damascus' brutal suppression of peaceful protests, Syrians flocked to Lebanon. With the regime regaining control of the majority of the country, appeals for Syrians to return home have grown louder in crisis-torn Lebanon. 

Samer claims that Lebanon's army intelligence stormed his brother's flat in a Beirut suburb last week, holding him, his wife, and their child. 

Samer, like others AFP spoke with, decided to use a pseudonym for security reasons. 

Syrian officials released his wife and children but detained his brother, who had participated in anti-government protests with Samer more than a decade ago. He hasn't heard from him in a long time. 

"Our greatest fear is that he will disappear (in regime prisons), never to be heard from again," Samer, 26, said. 

"We fear the same fate: deportation to Syria, where we may be arrested or disappeared." 

According to authorities, Lebanon presently accommodates around two million Syrians, with over 800,000 registered with the UN - the world's biggest number of refugees per capita. 

Lebanon has long advocated for Syrians to return home, and has undertaken various voluntary repatriation operations for Syrians. 

According to a humanitarian source, the army has increased its campaign on undocumented Syrians in recent weeks, with 450 arrested and at least 66 deported.

'Would you like a solution?'

Anti-Syrian sentiment has recently risen in Lebanon, as some leaders seek to blame refugees for the country's problems. 

Since 2019, Lebanon has been in the grip of a terrible economic catastrophe that has reduced the majority of the population to poverty. The local currency has plummeted, and the World Bank has accused officials of exploiting and manipulating people's deposits. 

Hector Hajjar, Minister of Social Affairs, recently asserted that "dangerous demographic changes" were taking place, warning that "we will become refugees in our own country." 

Some municipalities have imposed restrictions on Syrians' movement over the years, and recent social media posts have painted refugees as criminals desperate for UN assistance. 

"They say we get UN aid in dollars, but that is not true," Samer said, adding that he and his family had lived in poverty and fear for years. 

"We're tired and need a solution." We don't require money or anything else from Lebanon." 

According to AFP, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) can only provide assistance to about 43 percent of refugees in local currency. 

"The maximum amount a vulnerable family of five or more members receives for both cash and food assistance is 8,000,000 Lebanese pounds per month," according to UNHCR, which translates to about $80. 

According to the organization, officials have started cracking down on Syrian communities, with at least 13 raids conducted in April alone. 

According to the UNHCR, some of those arrested or expelled were refugees, while another humanitarian source stated that minors were separated from their parents in certain circumstances. 

'I'd sooner die than live.'

Amnesty International has asked Lebanon to "immediately halt deportations," calling them as "forced" and warning that returning refugees face "torture or persecution." 

The crackdown has left impoverished Syrians distressed, with many now afraid to leave their homes. 

Abu Salim, 32, told AFP that he had been sleeping in a warehouse with 20 other individuals "because we're afraid of getting arrested." 

He claimed to have spent six years in Syrian jails and that his greatest fear was deportation. 

"If I go back to prison, I will never be able to get out," he stated. 

Ammar, a deserter from the army, told AFP that he had been holed up at home, his eyes transfixed to the anti-Syrian hate poured on social media. 

"What's the point of all this hatred?" What exactly did we do to deserve this? "We only fled to avoid death," the 31-year-old explained. 

He had been in Lebanon since 2014 and stated he feared not only for his own life but also for the lives of his wife and two-month-old child. 

"I live in fear of the army breaking into my house and deporting me," he added, adding that he will soon have to go out "to work and buy baby milk." 

Desperate Lebanese, Syrians, and Palestinians have been attempting to leave Lebanon on dilapidated boats for Europe, with some attempts ending in disaster. 

The Syrian government has accused Syrians of entering Lebanon solely to embark on risky sea voyages. 

Ammar stated that if necessary, he would take a boat. 

"In Syria, there is no longer any hope," Ammar stated. "I'd rather die on the sea than return." 

By Covenant