Wave of attacks against Syrians in Lebanon, Syrian opposition condemns, while regime is silent

Activists shared a video on social media showing a group of Lebanese citizens demanding Syrian refugees to evacuate an area they reside in Lebanon.

According to the recording, Lebanese riding motorcycles requested through loudspeakers that the Syrian refugees in the Bourj Hammoud area vacate commercial premises and homes before the following Friday.

Concurrently, images circulated showing paper posters pasted on walls, summoning every Syrian in the areas of Ashrafieh, in Beirut, and in Rmeil and Saifi, to leave the area before said Friday, as the final deadline, and to never return, “to avoid what will become of the events of anger, violence, and security disorder, amid the total absence of the state, and the failure of security agencies and municipalities to perform their duties and responsibilities in protecting Lebanese citizens.”

At the same time, video recordings were shared that show assaults on Syrian refugees in Lebanon, including the beating of a Syrian worker in the Tabarja area.

These acts of violence come in the background of the killing of the coordinator in the Lebanese Forces party, Pascal Sleiman, nearly 24 hours after being kidnapped, and the issuance of a statement by the Lebanese army, accusing Syrians of participating in the kidnapping under the pretext of stealing Sleiman’s car, at a time when some Lebanese doubted the truth of this narrative, pointing to other influential parties on the ground directly linked to the case.

Opposition’s coalition condemns, Regime does not comment

Yesterday, Wednesday, The Syrian National Coalition for Revolutionary and Opposition Forces issued a statement condemning the assassination of the Lebanese Forces coordinator.

It demanded the responsible authorities in the Lebanese government to reveal the real perpetrators of this deplorable crime and the parties that planned and executed it, which seek to destabilize the security and stability of Lebanon, and distract public opinion from the core issues and their real implementers, by fabricating sedition and campaigns of hatred and incitement against the innocent Syrian refugees.

It also condemned what it described as a “dangerous wave” of assaults, violations, arbitrary detentions, and mistreatments that the displaced Syrian refugees suffered due to the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Assad regime and Hezbollah, according to the statement.

As usual, the Syrian regime did not comment on the events experienced by refugees in Lebanon, nor did the Lebanese authorities comment on that.

The leader of the Arab Unitarian Party in Lebanon, Wiam Wahhab, criticized the Lebanese authorities’ silence on the violations against Syrian refugees.

He said via “X” on Wednesday, “The Lebanese Minister of the Interior, have the videos about the attacks against Syrians, devoid of humanity, morals, honor, and manhood, not reached him?”

Wahhab continued, “I call on the European Union to impose sanctions on this minister for his negligence and failure to perform his duty to protect the innocents.”

The acting Lebanese Minister of the Interior, Bassam Mawlawi, called for reducing the Syrian presence in Lebanon, emphasizing the importance of strict enforcement of Lebanese laws on Syrian refugees.

During an extraordinary meeting of the Lebanese Central Security Council on April 9, Mawlawi stated that the percentage of Syrian detainees in Lebanese prisons was about 35%, according to Lebanese media outlets, including MTV Channel.

He affirmed that the Syrian presence in this manner is “unacceptable” and cannot be sustained by Lebanon, that it should be clearly limited, and that Lebanon will not accept the Syrians staying on its territory for financial gains.

In response to the statements of the Lebanese Minister for the Displaced, Issam Sharaf El-Din, who spoke about the presence of 20,000 armed individuals inside the camps, Mawlawi said, “I do not know if he counted them, but the security forces have all the information regarding the camps.”