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Sep 25, 2020 · their return intentions, their living conditions in Lebanon, the conditions in their places of origin in Syria, and the locations of their networks of family and friends.1 Specifically, with regard to whether and when they intend to return to Syria, researchers asked: 1. Do you plan to return to Syria in the next 12 months? 2.
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Feb 20, 2018 · A viable scenario of voluntary, safe, and a sustainable return for millions of Syrian refugees does not exist. Pushing Syrian refugees into a forced-return to a country torn by civil war, where they face the danger of continuing violence, and the high potential of retaliation by the Assad regime, is wrong. There is a need to think of the Syrian ...
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Returning Home? Why Pushing Syrian Refugees To Return Is Unlikely To Be Effective Results In 2019, most Syrians said they hoped to return some-day, but only five percent intended to return in the year following the interviews (Fig. 1).2 When asked about their plans in two years, 27 percent said they expected to be living in Syria.3
- Summary
- Methodology
- Background
- The Decision to Return to Syria
- Human Rights Abuses Upon Return
- Reconciliation, Security Clearances, and “Wanted” Lists
- Survival Inside Syria
- “No Refugee Should Go Back”
- Recommendations
- Acknowledgments
Syrian refugees who voluntarily returned to Syria between 2017 and 2021 from Lebanon and Jordan faced grave human rights abuses and persecution at the hands of Syrian government and affiliated militias, including torture, extra-judicial killings, and kidnappings. The majority of those interviewed by Human Rights Watch also struggled to survive and ...
This report is based on interviews with 30 Syrian refugees who returned from Jordan to Syria and 24 Syrian refugees who returned from Lebanon to Syria between 2017 and 2021. Interviews were also conducted with nine relatives of Syrian refugees who returned to Syria during the same time period, two of whom were living in Lebanon and seven in Jordan....
The Syrian Conflict
What started in 2011 as a peaceful uprising in Syria against a government with an abysmal human rights record turned into an armed conflict. In the decade since, the conflict has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions more. Parties to the Syrian conflict, especially the Syrian government, have committed egregious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law – from arbitrary detentions and torture to property confiscation, indiscriminate strikes, and the use of pr...
The Syrian Refugee Crisis
After a decade-long civil war, Syrian refugees continue to be the world’s largest refugee population according to UNHCR, comprising approximately 25 percent of refugees globally. Syrian refugees have sought asylum in 127 countries, but Syria’s neighboring nations continue to host the majority spread out over Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt. Turkey hosts the highest number of Syrian refugees, but Lebanon and Jordan host the highest ratio of refugees per capita of any countries in the...
Lebanon
Lebanon’s sectarian state structure and related sensitivity to sectarian demographic balances, some Lebanese political parties’ alliances with Syrian authorities, and Lebanese authorities’ ongoing discriminatory treatment of Palestinian refugees all taint Lebanese authorities’ perception and treatment of Syrian refugees. Lebanon already hosts a large community of Palestinian refugees, who numbering between 174,000 (according to the Lebanese Palestinian Dialogue Committee) and 480,000 (accordi...
Reasons for Refugee Returns
Despite the coercive conditions for refugees in Lebanon, and the increased cost of living for refugees in Jordan, protection monitoring and return-intentions data collected by humanitarian NGOs and UNHCR consistently demonstrate that refugees across Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon cite safety and security in their home country as the top consideration preventing them from return. At least 282,283 Syrian refugees returned from Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey in a self-organized way (...
Misinformation on Conditions in Syria
Misinformation on the reality of life inside Syria influenced the decisions of many of the refugees that Human Rights Watch interviewed to return. In 2018, the General Security Organization (GSO), the Lebanese security agency responsible for the entry and exit of foreigners, began facilitating returns for refugees to Syria. As part of the process, the GSO obtained a “security clearance” from the Syrian authorities for any refugee who wished to sign up for a return movement. Yasser, 32, from H...
The Process of Return
Refugees told Human Rights Watch they returned to Syria using both formal and informal routes. Both Lebanon and Jordan impose re-entry restrictions on Syrian refugees. The blanket imposition of re-entry restrictions and de-facto bans on Syrian returnees who cannot re-establish themselves inside Syria is tantamount to a breach of nonrefoulement obligations. Given the more porous nature of the border, the majority of refugees from Lebanon returned to Syria using smuggling routes, while those in...
Refugees returning from Lebanon and Jordan told Human Rights Watch that the Syrian government or its affiliated militias subjected them or their family members to arbitrary arrest, detention, torture and inhuman and degrading treatment, kidnappings, and extrajudicial killings after their return to Syria. Human Rights Watch documented 21 cases of ar...
Returnees described a range of vetting processes they were required to undertake before and after their return to Syria, including “reconciling” with the government, checking their names against “wanted” lists, and being subjected to a security clearance. While seemingly separate processes, returnees told Human Rights Watch that it was not always c...
The foundation of international refugee law is the principle of nonrefoulement: that no person can be returned to a place where their life or freedom would be threatened on account of their beliefs or identity. International human rights law provides broader protections against forced return to places where returnees would face threats to life, fre...
Human Rights Watch asked all interviewees how they felt about their decision to leave Lebanon and Jordan and what they would say to refugees contemplating a return to Syria. Several of their responses are recorded below. Halim, 38-year-old man from Qunaitra who went back to Syria in the autumn of 2018: Halima, 45-year-old woman from Homs whose husb...
To the Government of Syria
1. Ensure that no refugees are targeted for their perceived or actual previous affiliation with opposition forces, or for having left the country during the conflict. 2. Set up a fair mechanism that provides full restitution or compensation for losses or damage of housing, property, and land because of the conflict. 3. Allow regular and unimpeded access for the UNHCR and other humanitarian agencies to all areas of Syria. 4. Stop immediately all arbitrary and unlawful security vetting procedur...
To the Jordanian Ministry of Interior
1. Respect the principle of nonrefoulement and abolish the practice of arbitrary or de facto re-entry restrictions for Syrian refugees who first entered Jordan irregularly. 2. Ensure that Jordanian officials and/or UNHCR fully and accurately inform any Syrian seeking voluntary repatriation about conditions in areas of return. Information provided should include levels of violence and respect for human rights, economic conditions, and access to humanitarian and reconstruction and reintegration...
To the Lebanese Government and related Ministries
1. Rescind the May 2019 Higher Defense Council’s decision regarding the deportation of Syrian refugees who enter the country unofficially, and respect the principle of nonrefoulement. This includes not deporting individual Syrian refugees without giving them a meaningful opportunity to challenge the evidence against them and argue their case for protection, including by giving them the opportunity to obtain legal representation. 2. Place a moratorium on all GSO-facilitated returns in view of...
This report was researched and written by Nadia Hardman, Researcher in the Refugee and Migrant Rights Division at Human Rights Watch. This report was reviewed and edited by Bill Frelick, Refugee and Migrant Rights Director. Specialist reviews were provided by Sara Kayyali, Researcher, who also provided research assistance, Aya Majzoub, Researcher, ...
Sep 14, 2022 · Across the country, it has also documented numerous cases of persons and families who have been unable to return to their hometowns and villages because their properties were confiscated by forces, or because they cannot return to their properties and land, fearing arbitrary detention.
Jul 26, 2021 · For the vast majority of Syrians, returning home – voluntarily, and in safety and dignity – remains a deep and longed-for aspiration. It is also their fundamental right. UNHCR therefore welcomes all efforts to build an environment that enables refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) to exercise their right to return. As discussions ...
Feb 16, 2023 · When we asked Syrian refugees in Jordan if they plan to ever return to Syria, we find that a large majority of respondents (around 75 per cent) reported that they never want to return to Syria. Therefore, the data enable us to examine whether our results from Lebanon pertain only to a context with major pressure to return and where a large share of people hope to return home someday.
