A plan for 30,000 Syrian refugees to be repatriated from Lebanon is set to be finalised within weeks, according to Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA).
Despite grave concerns among rights groups, the UN called the latest move a "positive shift" in the Syrian regime's handling of the repatriation issue.
The latest announcement comes after EU Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen visited Lebanon on May 2 to announce a substantial aid package worth one billion euros.
This move was interpreted by many in Lebanon as an effort to incentivise the country to manage its refugee crisis by maintaining Syrian refugees within its borders and curbing illegal migration to Europe.
However, on May 8, shortly after von der Leyen's visit, Lebanon's parliament urged the government to take comprehensive measures to address the issue of Syrians "residing illegally" in the country.
This marked the first time a political consensus had been reached on this matter.
On Friday, UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani stated during her meeting with Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib on Friday that "there is momentum to build upon for early recovery efforts to facilitate the return of displaced people."
NNA reported that Shamdasani revealed in discussions that the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is working on a plan for the voluntary repatriation of 30,000 Syrian refugees from Lebanon to Syria in the near future.
Bou Habib reportedly welcomed this initiative, encouraging the UN to continue with the process, noting that "many areas in Syria are now safe for their return."
However, the decision has since been met with strong opposition from activist groups that argue that Syria is rather unsafe for the return of Syrian refugees.
Human rights organisations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch (HRW), and the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SOHR), have previously reported widespread abuses committed by Syrian regime security forces and affiliated militias against returning refugees.
The organisations have additionally documented cases of arbitrary detention, torture, forced disappearances, and even extrajudicial killings of returnees.
Fadel Abdul Ghani, director of the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), told The New Arab’s Arabic-language sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the Syrian regime has not changed its "criminal behaviour" at all.
"We are a national institution, and our role is to monitor the work of the United Nations, not simply accept it,” Abdul Ghani told Al-Araby al-Jadeed.
"If UN standards and their investigations align with our own, that’s a positive sign. But if they don’t, it's our duty to provide recommendations and pressure the UN for clarifications."
Abdul Ghani also pointed out that the Syrian regime has not made any meaningful reforms, saying, "The regime has not abolished the Counter-Terrorism Court, nor held security agencies accountable, nor revealed the fate of over 112,000 forcibly disappeared individuals. Torture continues, and the judiciary, controlled by security forces, remains unreformed."
Abdul Ghani also highlighted the need for objective criticism of the UN's actions.
While acknowledging that the UNHCR has provided significant support to Syrian refugees over the years, he criticised the agency for what he termed as an "ill-advised" shift in its stance, declaring Syria safe for returns.
"The UNHCR has not exerted enough pressure on countries to increase refugee intake, and there has been a clear shortfall in its performance," he said.
He also argued that any discussion of returning refugees to Syria is premature and contradicts international law.
He stressed that "voluntary return under the current circumstances exposes them to the risk of torture, enforced disappearance, or even death," adding that "safe returns are the exception, not the rule."
The UN's Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria has also reaffirmed that the country remains unsafe for refugee returns.
Johan Eriksson, the spokesperson for the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, emphasised the UN body’s clear and consistent stance on the deportations of Syrian refugees by the Lebanese government.
In a statement, Eriksson told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that Syria "remains unsafe for refugees to return, with civilians still suffering from a lack of rule of law and insecurity."
He added that the country is experiencing a level of violence not seen in the past four years.
Recent UNHCR data shows that 19,729 Syrian refugees have returned to their homeland so far this year, a figure lower than last year, when over 38,000 refugees made the journey back under what the UN describes as "regular returns."
Lebanon, home to an estimated 1.5 million Syrian refugees, has the highest proportion of refugees per capita in the world, with Syrians making up a significant portion of the country's total population of just over 5.3 million.
Anti-refugee sentiment in Lebanon has long existed and has intensified considerably since the onset of the country's economic crisis in 2019.
The strain on Lebanon's already fragile economy has led to heightened tensions, as many Lebanese citizens increasingly view the presence of Syrian refugees as an added burden on limited resources, services, and employment opportunities.
This growing hostility has been exacerbated by the implementation of stricter government policies aimed at regulating and controlling the refugee population.