New report highlights dangers facing deported Syrian refugees

The Norwegian Refugee Council, Save the Children and other humanitarian NGOs have released a new report highlighting the perils awaiting Syrian refugees when they are repatriated. Syrians also face numerous challenges in their neighboring host countries.

The report, which was released on Monday, warned countries that are hosting Syrian refugees to carefully weigh the decision of deporting them back home due to dangers there. The report also made suggestions to improve the care and safety of Syrian returnees.

“The ongoing conflict and insecurity, the lack of access to services – including water, health, education and electricity – and limited livelihood opportunities all are yet to be addressed in order for refugees to have the option to return home in safety and dignity,” the report said.  

“Our main point today is that Syria is extremely dangerous,” Karl Schembri, Regional Media Adviser in the Middle East for the Norwegian Refugee Council, told InfoMigrants. “If only there is a lasting ceasefire across the country, we can then talk about Syrian refugees coming home safely.”

“To do this report, we talked to people who had relatives who had been returned to Syria and Syrians in Lebanon and Jordan who are afraid to go back,” Schembri said. “The majority of Syrians want to go back home but are extremely concerned.”

The report is divided into four parts. The first past, called “The Rush to Return Refugees” describes how nations such as Jordan and Lebanon have closed their borders and have been sending Syrian refugees back home. The second part, titled “Still Not Safe to Return,” describes the unsafe conditions in Syria that the returnees encounter and the third, “In Search of Other Solutions: Options Dwindling, Push Factors Increasing,” urges host countries to improve asylum and resettlement processes.

The report provides quotes from different Syrian refugees who have been displaced. For example, Raneem (not her real name), a mother-of-seven and Syrian refugee living in Jordan said:

Resettlement

Schembri told InfoMigrants that he thinks wealthier nations such as the US and Canada should take in more Syrian refugees. “We are asking wealthier countries to be more generous and step up their resettlement programs,” he said.    

The report also highlights the deficiencies in how certain host nations handle refugees. In Jordan, 20 percent of Syrian refugees lack ID documentation with the authorities. In Turkey, the government will need around 10,000 schools to accommodate both refugees and host community children. In Lebanon last June the Lebanese Armed Forces attacked militants in the Arsal area in North Bekaa Valley, numerous human rights abuses towards refugees had taken place there.

 

Sultan (not his real name)

“I will never forget those children who were on the street with me. I will think of them when I am in Norway,” Sultan, an 11-year-old Syrian refugee living in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, said the day before his resettlement to Norway.

Recommendations by the NGOs   

The NGOs featured in the report, the Norwegian Refugee Council, Save the Children, Action Against Hunger, CARE International, the Danish Refugee Council and the International Rescue Committee made a series of recommendations to protect Syrian refugees. One recommendation is that the UN speak out against refoulement, which is the forced return of refugees. The report also advocates that there be new procedures for Syrian refugees to have access to work permits in their host countries and called on Syria’s neighboring countries to invest in better long-term infrastructures for accommodating refugees.