A new report by Amnesty International issued on March 23, 2021, documents the number of violations committed against Syrian refugees in Lebanon. A previous Human Rights Watch report estimated the true number of Syrians in Lebanon to be 1.5 million. The same report mentioned that seventy-four percent of Syrians in Lebanon lack legal residency and risk detention for unlawful presence in Lebanon. In 2019, the Lebanese authorities forced about ninety thousand refugees to return to Syria without the supervision of UNHCR. Returning to Amnesty’s report, it documented the stages in which Syrian refugees are being tortured and deprived of the most basic human rights. There have been dreadful abuses against Syrian refugees who have been arrested, often arbitrarily, on terrorism-related charges. The same atrocious torture techniques used in Syria’s most notorious prisons were employed, said Amnesty’s report.
The Syrian British Council (SBC) condemns these violations against the human rights of Syrian refugees in Lebanon and call on the Lebanese government to make an end for these practices and hold perpetrators of torture practices accountable. SBC calls on the UK government to use its influence in Lebanon towards pressuring on its partners including the Lebanese government to provide protection for the Syrian refugees. Finally, SBC calls on the human rights organisations and the relevant UN agencies and International organisations to search and document the violations committed as a first step in holding the perpetrators accountable.
‘’The continuation of the dictatorial regime in Syria with acts of killing and displacement without facing any consequences encouraged creating a system of oppressive regimes in the region and demonstrated the impotence of the international community in protecting freedoms and human rights. The time has come to act and move from condemnation and anxiety to acting.’’ SBC Chairman, DR. Haytham Alhamwi said.
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