Marina Marhej – Enab Baladi
Since the beginning of this year, areas across Lebanon have witnessed a noticeable escalation in arrests targeting Syrian refugees residing irregularly in the country. Security agencies have intensified their campaigns across various regions, from the north to the Bekaa and reaching Beirut.
According to statements issued by the Lebanese Army Command, the number of Syrians detained in Lebanon during the first half of July reached nearly 500 people, on charges of moving within Lebanese territory without legal documentation.
In recent weeks, the campaigns have focused on raiding homes and camps and setting up temporary checkpoints in several towns, resulting in the arrest of hundreds of Syrians—some holding expired residency permits, others possessing no legal papers.
Human rights organizations stated that violations against Syrians escalated after the meeting between Syrian Transitional President Ahmad al-Sharaa and Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on 14 April, which was expected to outline a new path for cooperation in addressing shared challenges, particularly the refugee crisis.
The organization Women Journalists Without Chains declared at the time that “the continuation of abusive practices, even after diplomatic initiatives, demonstrates a grave lack of political will to protect vulnerable populations.”
Fabricated Terror Charges
Lawyer, human rights defender, and Legal Director of the Cedar Center for Legal Studies, Mohammad Sablouh, explained that security forces are targeting young men from poor backgrounds who lack official documentation.
Speaking to Enab Baladi, Sablouh said that some arrests are carried out after inspecting individuals’ mobile phones and monitoring their social media activities, which are then used to bring “terrorism” charges against them and refer them to the Terrorism Court. He pointed out that searching and confiscating mobile phones without a public prosecutor’s warrant constitutes a serious legal violation in Lebanon.
Currently, more than 1.5 million Syrian refugees reside in Lebanon, over 750,000 of whom are registered with the United Nations. Many fled the brutal repression of Bashar al-Assad’s regime following the outbreak of the Syrian revolution in 2011.
A 2020 UNHCR assessment revealed that 90% of Syrian refugee households in Lebanon live in extreme poverty.
Despite the fall of the Assad regime on 8 December 2024, the first quarter of this year witnessed continued refugee flows from Syria due to ongoing clashes. The UNHCR estimated that nearly 100,000 Syrians had arrived in Lebanon by the end of March.
Violations Against Detainees
Sablouh told Enab Baladi that Lebanese prisons are operating at more than 250% over capacity, depriving both Lebanese and Syrian detainees of the most basic standards of humane living. He criticized the Lebanese government’s persistence in “filling prisons through fabricated charges” despite its inability to provide food and healthcare for prisoners.
Several lawyers and activists in Lebanon have filed complaints regarding abuses, torture, and enforced disappearances of Syrian detainees. Sablouh explained that the purpose of enforced disappearance complaints is to determine the detainee’s whereabouts within security agencies, “but the Lebanese judiciary often falls short of its responsibility to launch investigations.”
He urged legal professionals and activists to file complaints condemning these violations immediately and to publicize them through media outlets and social media, stating: “In the absence of judicial accountability in Lebanon, the media becomes the court we turn to to expose these violations to public and international scrutiny.”
The number of Syrian detainees in Lebanon exceeds 2,100 individuals, constituting around 30% of the total prison population, according to security estimates. Among them, 1,756 are held in central prisons, while about 350 others have received final sentences.
Many face charges related to “terrorism,” “membership in armed factions,” or “attacks on Lebanese military sites,” according to a report by the Lebanese newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat in March.
“Slow” Steps for Refugee Return
Mohammad Sablouh, Legal Director of the Cedar Center for Legal Studies, believes the Lebanese government is not working to expedite the return of Syrian refugees. Instead, it increases arbitrary arrests of undocumented refugees to create the illusion for the international community that the Lebanese army and security agencies are focused on combating extremism and terrorism, thereby deflecting pressure from Hezbollah’s weapons and emphasizing Lebanon’s need for its presence in fighting terrorism.
Under Lebanese law, no detainee may be handed over unless a final judicial ruling has been issued against them. The process of returning Syrian detainees in Lebanon is governed by bilateral legal agreements, most notably the 1951 Judicial Agreement, which regulates legal cooperation in extraditing criminals and enforcing judicial rulings.
The agreement stipulates several conditions for transferring prisoners between the two countries, including:
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The person to be extradited must be a citizen of the requesting country.
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The judicial ruling against the detainee must be final and binding.
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The remaining sentence must not be less than six months.
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The convicted person must consent to the transfer.
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The crime must be punishable under the laws of both countries.
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Both states must agree to the transfer process.
In a statement issued in February, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) urged both the Syrian transitional government and Lebanese authorities to take urgent and coordinated measures to end the suffering of Syrian detainees in Lebanon and facilitate their return to Syria by applying a legal framework that ensures the respect of human rights.
The SNHR also emphasized the importance of establishing clear coordination mechanisms between the two sides, taking into account the political and legal challenges in both countries.
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