Russia says it has launched airstrikes targeting militant infrastructure in Syria's northern Idlib province, where the government is expected to launch a major offensive against the rebels' last major stronghold.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Wednesday that four jets struck targets linked to an al-Qaida-linked group, including a weapons depot and a launch pad for drones that Russia says have targeted its military bases in Syria. The Russian military says it has shot down dozens of hostile drones.
Russia first intervened in Syria in 2015, helping to turn the tide of the civil war in favor of President Bashar Assad's forces.
This photo released Tuesday, Sept 4, 2018 by the al-Qaida-affiliated Ibaa News Agency, shows smoke rising over buildings that were hit by airstrikes, in Mahambal village, in the northern province of Idlib, Syria. Arabic reads, "Air raid by the Russian occupation plane on Mahambal village." (Ibaa News Agency, via AP)
Eight people were reported killed Tuesday in airstrikes on Idlib. The Russian military says it struck militant targets far from residential areas.
This photo released Tuesday, Sept 4, 2018 by the al-Qaida-affiliated Ibaa News Agency, shows smoke rising over buildings that were hit by airstrikes, in al-Sahan village, in the northern province of Idlib, Syria. Arabic reads, "Air raid by the Russian occupation plane targets al-Sahan village." (Ibaa News Agency, via AP)
ARSAL, Lebanon (AP) — More than 300 Syrian refugees headed back home to Syria in a convoy on Tuesday, leaving two remote northeastern towns in crisis-stricken Lebanon where anti-refugee sentiment has been surging in recent months.
Lebanese officials have long urged the international community to either resettle the refugees in other countries or help them return to Syria. Over the past months, leading Lebanese political parties have become increasingly vocal, demanding that Syrian refugees go back.
A country of about 6 million people, Lebanon hosts nearly 780,000 registered Syrian refugees and hundreds of thousands who are unregistered — the world’s highest refugee population per capita.
In the northeastern town of Arsal, Syrian refugees piled their belongings onto the back of trucks and cars on Tuesday as Lebanese security officers collected their U.N. refugee agency cards and other paperwork before clearing them to leave.
As the trucks pulled away, the refugees waved to friends and relatives staying behind, heading to an uncertain future in Syria.
Ahmad al-Rifai, on his way to the Qalamoun Mountains after over a decade in Lebanon, said that whatever the situation was in Syria, “it’s better to live in a house than in a tent.”
Lebanese security forces this year stepped up deportations of Syrians, although nowhere near the level threatened two years ago when the Lebanese government announced a plan to deport some 15,000 Syrians every month, to what they dubbed “ safe areas,” in cooperation with the government in Damascus.
Tuesday's convoy from the mountainous towns of Arsal and Qaa consisted of only 330 refugees who had signed up for repatriation, the first such “voluntary return” return organized by Lebanese security forces since late 2022.
“Nobody can not be happy to return to their home,” Ahmad Durro told The Associated Press while waiting in his truck. “I signed up a year ago to be in the convoy.”
But many other Syrians — especially young men facing compulsory military service or political opponents of the government of President Bashar Assad — say it's unsafe to return.
Others see no future in Syria, where in many parts the fighting may have died down but an economic crisis has pulled millions into poverty.
An increasing number of refugees in Lebanon have taken to the sea in an attempt to reach Europe.
The UNHCR has said it only supports voluntary returns of Syrians based on informed consent. Yet, major human rights organizations remain skeptical of the voluntary nature of these returns amid anti-refugee hostility in Lebanon.
“Syrian refugees are, targeted by both geo sources and host communities. They are subjected to violence, insults and other degrading treatment," Amnesty International’s deputy Middle East and North Africa Regional Director Aya Majzoub told the AP, also decrying curfews and other restrictions imposed on refugees by a handful of Lebanese municipalities.
"So our assessment is that in these conditions, it is very difficult for refugees to make free and informed decisions about returning to Syria.”
Amnesty International and other human rights organizations have documented cases of refugees detained and tortured by Syrian security agencies upon their return.
The UNHCR says nine out of 10 Syrian refugees in Lebanon live in extreme poverty and need humanitarian aid to survive. That aid has declined amid donor fatigue and as international attention shifted to other crises.
Many increasingly impoverished Lebanese have accused Syrian refugees of benefitting from the aid while beating Lebanese to jobs by accepting lower pay. Lebanon’s ruling political parties and leadership claim that most Syrians living in the tiny Mediterranean country are economic migrants rather than refugees escaping the war at home, now in its 13th year. Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group, a top ally of Assad, has made such an allegation.
“They have dollars and they are sending those dollars to relatives in Syria,” Nasrallah said in a speech on Monday.
Lebanese security agents have in the past weeks raided shops and other businesses employing undocumented Syrian workers, and shut them down.
The European Union this month announced an aid package worth 1 billion euros — about $1.06 billion — of which about 200 million euros would go to security and border control, in an apparent bid to curb migration from Lebanon to Cyprus, Italy, and other parts of Europe.
While Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati welcomed the aid, other officials described it as a bribe for tiny Lebanon to keep the refugees.
Parliament is to discuss the EU package on Wednesday, with lawmakers from the entire political spectrum expected to ramp up anti-refugee sentiment and call for more refugee returns and crackdowns.
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Chehayeb reported from Beirut.
A restaurant that was closed as part of a crackdown by Lebanese General Security on businesses employing unregistered Syrian workers displays a sign informing customers of the closure, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday May 10, 2024. Hundreds of Syrians refugees left a remote northeastern Lebanese town back to Syria in a convoy Tuesday, amid a surge in anti-refugee sentiment in the small, crisis-hit country. The new push for repatriation comes as Lebanon's quarrelling ruling political parties have reached a rare consensus in recent years, all agreeing that Syrian refugees should be returned. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A Lebanese General Security officer seals a shop employing Syrian workers, as part of a crackdown on businesses employing unregistered Syrian workers, in Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, May 11, 2024. Hundreds of Syrians refugees left a remote northeastern Lebanese town back to Syria in a convoy Tuesday, amid a surge in anti-refugee sentiment in the small, crisis-hit country. The new push for repatriation comes as Lebanon's quarrelling ruling political parties have reached a rare consensus in recent years, all agreeing that Syrian refugees should be returned. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Syrian refugees sit outside their tents near the gathering point where other refugees prepare to back home to Syria as a part of a voluntary return, in the eastern Lebanese border town of Arsal, Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Hundreds of Syrians refugees left a remote northeastern Lebanese town back to Syria in a convoy, amid a surge in anti-refugee sentiment in the small, crisis-hit country. Lebanese officials for years has urged the international community to resettle the refugees in other countries or help them return to Syria. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
FILE - A Lebanese protester holds an Arabic placard that reads: "Treat me like a Syrian, I can stay in my country," during a protest in front the U.N headquarters against Syrian refugees and the deal between the European Union and the Lebanese government, in Beirut, Thursday, May 9, 2024. Hundreds of Syrians refugees left a remote northeastern Lebanese town back to Syria in a convoy Tuesday, amid a surge in anti-refugee sentiment in the small, crisis-hit country. The new push for repatriation comes as Lebanon's quarrelling ruling political parties have reached a rare consensus in recent years, all agreeing that Syrian refugees should be returned. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)
Supporters of a Christian party (the Free Patriotic Movement) protest in front the U.N headquarters against the Syrian refugees and the deal between the European Union and the Lebanese government, in Beirut, Thursday, May 9, 2024. Hundreds of Syrians refugees left a remote northeastern Lebanese town back to Syria in a convoy Tuesday, amid a surge in anti-refugee sentiment in the small, crisis-hit country. The Arabic banner, centre, reads:"Lebanon is for Lebanese not for other people, Lebanon not for sale." (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A restaurant that was closed as part of a crackdown by Lebanese General Security on businesses employing unregistered Syrian workers displays a sign informing customers of the closure, in Beirut, Lebanon, May 10, 2024. Hundreds of Syrians refugees left a remote northeastern Lebanese town back to Syria in a convoy Tuesday, amid a surge in anti-refugee sentiment in the small, crisis-hit country. The new push for repatriation comes as Lebanon's quarrelling ruling political parties have reached a rare consensus in recent years, all agreeing that Syrian refugees should be returned. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Lebanese General Security officers check the personal IDs of Syrian workers, as part of a crackdown on businesses employing unregistered Syrian workers in Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, May 11, 2024. Hundreds of Syrians refugees left a remote northeastern Lebanese town back to Syria in a convoy Tuesday, amid a surge in anti-refugee sentiment in the small, crisis-hit country. The new push for repatriation comes as Lebanon's quarrelling ruling political parties have reached a rare consensus in recent years, all agreeing that Syrian refugees should be returned. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Lebanese General Security officers close a shop employing Syrians, as part of a crackdown on businesses employing unregistered Syrian workers in Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, May 11, 2024. Hundreds of Syrians refugees left a remote northeastern Lebanese town back to Syria in a convoy Tuesday, amid a surge in anti-refugee sentiment in the small, crisis-hit country. The new push for repatriation comes as Lebanon's quarrelling ruling political parties have reached a rare consensus in recent years, all agreeing that Syrian refugees should be returned. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A Syrian refugee woman sits inside a car, as she prepares to go back home to Syria as a part of a voluntary return, in the eastern Lebanese border town of Arsal, Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Hundreds of Syrians refugees left a remote northeastern Lebanese town back to Syria in a convoy, amid a surge in anti-refugee sentiment in the small, crisis-hit country. Lebanese officials for years has urged the international community to resettle the refugees in other countries or help them return to Syria. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A Syrian refugee woman carries her child as she prepares to go back home to Syria as part of a voluntary return, in the eastern Lebanese border town of Arsal, Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Hundreds of Syrians refugees left a remote northeastern Lebanese town back to Syria in a convoy, amid a surge in anti-refugee sentiment in the small, crisis-hit country. Lebanese officials for years has urged the international community to resettle the refugees in other countries or help them return to Syria. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
