Syrian refugees in Lebanon: A Story of failed voluntary returns, illegal entries

Recent reports indicate that a much lower number of Syrian refugees have returned to their home country compared to several years ago.

In 2017, the General Security in Lebanon launched convoys for voluntary return, resulting in a high turnout.

At that time, displaced Syrians were encouraged to register in 17 centers in different governorates across Lebanon.

Between 2017 and 2019, around 540,000 Syrians returned to their safe areas, and they continue to live there safely.

However, the spread of COVID-19 in Lebanon led to the closure of borders, halting the voluntary return convoys.

It was expected that with the decline of the coronavirus spread, and in light of the severe crisis that Lebanon is going through of financial and economic collapse, the voluntary return would resume. But what happened was the opposite.

The Lebanese border remained open, allowing tens of thousands of Syrian families to enter illegally.

Furthermore, the number of refugees has skyrocketed to over two and a quarter million people, including those who registered and entered Lebanon illegally. 

Although voluntary return convoys resumed in 2022, they have been relatively insignificant. Only 200 Syrian families returned in the latest batch of convoys, which was the 25th since 2017.

Thus, there has been a significant change in the number of Syrian refugees returning home.

The burden on Lebanon has increased, and the number of displaced persons has worsened. While half a million refugees returned to Syria in 2019, nearly a million people entered Lebanon after the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2017, there were approximately 1.8 million refugees. But today, there are over two and a quarter million displaced people, and the situation continues to worsen.