Lebanon’s UN refugee agency chief hopes at least 200,000 Syrian refugees return under new plan

BEIRUT AP The UN refugee agency s representative in Lebanon declared Thursday he hopes that at least Syrian refugees return from Lebanon by the end of the year under a new government-backed return plan Before former President Bashar Assad was ousted in a lightning insurgent offensive in December only about of the Syrian refugees in Lebanon declared they were planning to return UNHCR s outgoing Lebanon Representative Ivo Freijsen commented That has now changed of the Syrian refugee locality in Lebanon is now thinking or planning about going back during the next months So that s a very positive shift Freijsen reported The Associated Press in an interview Syria s uprising-turned-conflict displaced half of the country s prewar population of million over the last years Lebanon hosted an estimated million refugees making up roughly a quarter of Lebanon s six million people at one point Bureaucrats estimate that at least million refugees are still in the country in the current era Scaling up a new return plan The UNHCR had disclosed for years that Syria was not yet safe for return despite mounting pressure from Lebanese administration since the country plunged into an economic emergency in That agenda has changed since the Assad dynasty s decades-long autocratic rule came to an end Multiple of the refugees in Lebanon had fled because they were political opponents of Assad or to avoid forced conscription into his army Freijsen mentioned that the agency was able to confirm at least Syrian refugees leaving Lebanon since Assad s fall without any help from UN groups or charities But we now have this scheme available and we hope to be able to scale up Freijsen revealed Collectively we have now made it as easy as realizable for Syrians to go back to Syria to their home country Under the plan the UNHCR and International Organization for Migration will provide for each family member and transportation by bus while the Lebanese officers would waive any outstanding fees or fines that they owe for violating residency requirements Once they cross the boundary the UN agencies will help the returning refugees secure missing documents offer legal and mental medical aid and selected aid At least Syrians have signed up so far with majority opting to take their own vehicles Freijsen observed a small test run on Tuesday of Syrians leaving by bus through Lebanon s Masnaa confines moving across with Syria He stated about a quarter of surveyed Syrian refugees want to return or plan to do so in the next year a surge from almost none less than a year ago We have a majority of ambitious target objective and hope of returns by the end of this year Again that s the greater part optimistic he declared But if we get a final figure by the year between and that would be very positive Syria s economic activity still far from recovered The UN estimates it will cost hundreds of billions of dollars to rebuild Syria and make its commercial sector viable again when of its population lives in poverty A new administration led by interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa has restored diplomatic ties with Arab Gulf nations and Western nations U S President Donald Trump of late revealed that Washington would lift sanctions from Syria which swiftly paved the way for large business deals with Turkey Qatar Saudi Arabia But Syria will need to time for its economic activity to bounce back and its new officers are still struggling with exerting their authority across the entire country as they try to reach settlement with opposing groups that have at times led to violent conflict UN agencies have also faced massive budget cuts which have scaled down the size of their teams and the amount of aid they can give All that could hamper the sustainability of refugees returning home Freijsen warned People are prepared to go back with lots of issues and struggle and issues to overcome provided that they can also earn a living And that is still complex stated Freijsen Meanwhile over new Syrian refugees have fled to Lebanon since Assad s fall mainly from the Shiite Muslim public fearful of revenge against them by the new Sunni-led government They were followed by tens of thousands of members of the Alawite religious minority from Syria s coastal province who fled after an insurgent attack on the new functionaries by Assad loyalists turned into dayslong conflict and led to targeted sectarian revenge attacks that killed hundreds of mostly Alawite civilians The new refugees have arrived at a time when aid is shrinking for the refugees already present We are the greater part impressed by what local executives and communities are doing to receive them And we try to aid them Freijsen declared But we think it s going to take a little bit of time before these people can start to have the confidence to go back because what they have gone through is quite atrocious Source