Highlights
- First wave of refugees return to Syria.
- Cash Consultation brings together partners to discuss the sustainability and effectiveness for the cash response in Lebanon.
- Lebanon Humanitarian Fund allocates USD 4 million to support people with special needs.
- Statelessness raises risk of increased marginalization and vulnerability of children.
- Funding received for LCRP in 2017 is 30 per cent less than by May 2016.
In this issue, we look at the returns of several hundred refugees from Lebanon’s north-eastern border town of Aarsal to their villages in Syria. This issue also puts the spotlight on the July Cash Consultation in Beirut that looked at how to improve the sustainability and effectiveness of cash assistance programmes for refugees in Lebanon. In addition, we provide an update on the latest Standard Allocation issued by OCHA’s Lebanon Humanitarian Fund to support people with special needs. Finally, our issue gives an overview of the funding for Lebanon for the second quarter of 2017, and tells the story of a vulnerable refugee family that benefited from multi-purpose cash assistance.
First groups of refugees return to Syria
Conditions for safe and dignified return still not present on the ground
In the first significant return movement out of Lebanon, two waves of refugees have returned to Syria in recent weeks from the northeastern border town of Aarsal. An estimated 20 families left Aarsal on 10 June and 106 individuals on 12 July, with both groups returning to Asal al-Ward in Syria’s West Qalamoun region.
These returns took place within the framework of an agreement brokered between Hezbollah, the Syrian Army, and opposition groups in the area, with the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) escorting the families to the border. UNHCR was not involved in the agreement; however, UNHCR teams in the Bekaa met with the families in the second group before they departed, and were assured by the refugees that they had not been coerced to return.
On the Syrian side, the Governor of Rural Damascus confirmed on 12 July that 105 people had arrived in Asal Al Ward. While reports suggest that the area still has access to water, electricity, and basic goods, the full humanitarian and protection situation of the returnees remains unclear. As this Bulletin went to press, UNHCR Syria was awaiting permission from the Syrian authorities to visit the returnees to assess the conditions of return and humanitarian needs.
The town of Aarsal hosts a large number of Syrian refugees, with over 40,000 refugees registered in the town. The vast majority of refugees in Aarsal arrived from the Qusayr and Qalamoun areas following clashes in the area in 2013 and 2014.
The returns have triggered an intense public debate in Lebanon. While the government was not involved in the returns, a Ministerial Committee chaired by Prime Minister Hariri met on 12 July to discuss the issue and agreed to draft a national policy covering any future returns. Prime Minister Hariri also emphasized, in the 14 July meeting of the High Level Steering Committee, that any return would have to be in line with international standards and take place with the close involvement of the UN.
While their scale is unprecedented, the two sets of returns to Asal al-Ward involved a small number of people in specific localities; they do not necessarily represent any wider trend of return, nor indicate that conditions are met for returns in safety and dignity. While Syrian refugees overwhelmingly wish to eventually go back to their country and resume a normal life, the situation in Syria remains volatile and unpredictable, with shifting conflict lines and high levels of violence in many parts of the country. As highlighted by UNHCR and other key humanitarian voices, only once ceasefires, reconciliation agreements, or political solutions demonstrate sustainability over time, and once the humanitarian situation stabilizes, will large-scale programmes of voluntary return, in safety in dignity, be able to take place.