Feature: Lebanon's Syrian refugees looking forward to returning home with mixed feelings

0 Comment(s)Print E-mail Xinhua, November 18, 2020
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by Dana Halawi

BEIRUT, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Hussein El Hussein, a Syrian refugee from Aleppo, lives with his wife and four kids in a small room in Kfarfakoud, a village in the Chouf district of Lebanon.

The man, in his 50s, works occasionally as a tiler to earn some money to raise his family. But Hussein cannot make ends meet amid the economic collapse in Lebanon and the steep increase in prices of basic needs in the country.

"We have very bad living conditions; it is very difficult to live in Lebanon," Hussein told Xinhua.

Hussein, like many Syrian refugees who were forced to flee their country upon the start of civil war in 2011, said he wishes to return to Syria. But his house was destroyed and none of his family members lives there for the moment.

Khaled Hassoun, a Syrian refugee from Aleppo and Hussein's neighbor, told Xinhua he prefers to live as a refugee in Lebanon rather than living as a stranger in his own country.

"My house was destroyed in Syria and living conditions have become bad there... I cannot go back to my country and wait in lines for hours to be able to buy some bread," he told Xinhua.

Around 1.5 million refugees left their country and moved to Lebanon since the start of the civil war in Syria in 2011 with many of them living in camps shattered all over the country.

About 145,000 Syrian refugees have returned to their homeland so far.

The presence of a big number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon weighted heavily on the country's infrastructure while intensifying the competition in the local job market. Lebanese President Michel Aoun has, on many occasions, urged the international community to secure the safe return of refugees to secure areas in Syria.

The international community has linked the return of Syrian refugees to a political solution in Syria.

Amal Abou Zeid, foreign ministry's representative on the joint Lebanese-Russian committee for the return of Syrian refugees to their homeland, told Xinhua that losses caused by the presence of Syrian refugees in Lebanon amount to 40 billion U.S. dollars and the country does not have the luxury to wait for a political solution in Syria.

Abou Zeid noted that Lebanon has a Russian-backed strategy approved by Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab's cabinet but coordination is needed between Russia, the Syrian cabinet and the U.N.

"Also, the absence of a cabinet in Lebanon and the lack of agreement among all political parties on the mechanism that should be adopted to secure the return of Syrian refugees to their homeland are hindering this process," Abou Zeid said.

However, Abou Zeid said that the latest conference held in Damascus for the return of Syrian refugees was a very positive development as it reflects Syria's willingness and readiness to discuss with neighboring countries the return of Syrian refugees to their homeland.

"This development, by itself, is very good as Syria did not show this readiness in the past," he said.

On Nov. 11, Syria's government kicked off a two-day Russia-backed conference in Damascus towards facilitating the return of millions of Syrian refugees to the war-torn country.

Nasser Yassin, a professor of policy and planning at the American University in Beirut who researches refugee communities, rules away high chances for success of this new attempt due to the international rejection of dealing with the Syrian regime which is a mandatory pathway for financing reconstruction in Syria after a decade of war in the country.

Yassin noted that refugees must feel secure by ensuring that no arrest will take place upon their return in addition to securing their need for houses and job opportunities.

For his part, Abou Zeid told Xinhua that several areas in Syria have become safe and Syrian authorities can build prefabricated houses for refugees in safe area.

Meanwhile, Lebanese president Aoun said several times that no complaint of arrest or harassment was received from any of the returnees so far. Enditem

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