UNIPATH STAFF
Thousands of Syrian refugees illegally crossed into Lebanon in the second half of 2023 across rugged border terrain in areas of Al-Arida, Al-Aboudieh, Wadi Khaled, Jabal Akrum and Hermel on the border in the Bekaa Valley.
During August and September alone, the Lebanese army prevented about 6,100 Syrians from entering Lebanon illegally.
According to Al Arabiya.net, about 11,000 Syrian refugees had been deported through the northern border as of 2023. In just one week in October, Lebanese Armed Forces thwarted border crossing attempts by about 800 people.
Lebanon, with the help of international partners, built watchtowers with advanced equipment, maintains border crossing points and deploys four regiments along Lebanon’s northern and eastern borders with Syria to shut down smuggling routes.
Such efforts, however, fell short in sealing off gaps in the 375-kilometer border Lebanon shares with Syria. Lebanese security forces regularly set up random traffic barricades in border towns’ streets, searching for fugitives, smuggled arms and human traffickers.
With a population of about 5.3 million, Lebanon hosts nearly 900,000 registered Syrian refugees, and another 500,000 live in the country informally.
During a cabinet meeting in September 2023, Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the influx of Syrian refugees could upset the nation’s demography. What is worrying, he said, is that most of the refugees are young men and women. “That threatens our entity’s independence and could create harsh imbalances that could affect Lebanon’s demographic balance,” Mikati warned.
Lebanon has suffered from an economic crisis exacerbated by COVID-19, the Beirut Port explosion in August 2020 and ramifications of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Sources: alarabiya.net, aa.com.tr/ar, Aljazeera.com, Human Rights Watch