SOHR: 93 Syrians returning from Lebanon arbitrarily arrested

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 93 Syrians returning from Lebanon have been arbitrarily arrested since the beginning of 2024 by local gunmen working for the Fourth Division, led by Maher al-Assad.

Fourth Division checkpoints are scattered along the Syrian-Lebanese border, at more than 15 unofficial crossings and corridors on the border between the 2 countries.

With the escalation of Israeli attacks in Lebanon, a large part of Syrian families have returned to the country, but people wanted by Damascus government forces prefer to return via smuggling routes with smugglers and pay money, rather than crossing security checkpoints in Syria, according to the Observatory.

According to the SOHR, Damascus government forces issued warrants against wanted returnees who have been absent from the country for 6 years, to review the internal branch of State Security 251, known as the "Khatib branch."

All these reasons push Syrians to choose the Autonomous Administration's initiative for the return of Syrian refugees from Lebanon, with the facilities provided by the administration in this regard, as well as the provision of health support and the necessary shelter.

An earlier Human Rights Watch report published on Wednesday revealed that Syrians fleeing violence in Lebanon face risks of repression and persecution by the Damascus government, including enforced disappearances, torture and death in custody.

According to the report, the reverse displacement of Syrians to their country under the weight of intensive Israeli airstrikes against Lebanon has recorded numbers in the hundreds of thousands since late September.

About 440,000 people, 71% of them Syrians and 29% Lebanese, sought refuge in Syria to escape Lebanon through official and unofficial border crossings, according to Syrian Arab Red Crescent statistics. When 50,779 IDPs were headed to NE Syria by 25 October, and more than 6,000 to NW Syria by 24 October. 

Sh-S

ANHA