The General Directorate of State Security in Lebanon has forced Syrian families to vacate their residences in the northern Lebanon governorate over the past two days.

According to the Lebanese National News Agency (NNA), State Security patrols evacuated homes occupied by Syrian “displaced persons” (Lebanon refers to Syrian refugees on its territory as displaced persons) in the Rashkida village of Batroun district, northern governorate, on Wednesday, August 28.

The agency reported that according to the General Directorate of State Security, patrols headed to Rashkida after warning the Syrians “to vacate the village and leave the properties they occupy to return them to their owners.”

After the Syrians refused to comply with the warning, the patrols evacuated the village of Syrian displaced persons and sealed some homes with red wax.

The same measure was enforced by State Security patrols on August 27 in the village of Kfarhabba in Dinniyeh, “implementing the decisions of the Lebanese government.”

The governor of the northern governorate, Ramzi Nohra, issued a decision last Tuesday, instructing the regional director of State Security in the north to evacuate illegal Syrians from several villages in the Batroun district. In case of lack of compliance, the properties they occupy should be sealed with red wax.

Government approach

Evacuating Syrians from homes or camps in Lebanon is not new and is part of several measures by municipalities or the Lebanese government aimed at tightening the restrictions on Syrians.

Syrian refugees in Lebanon face continuous pressures amidst both official and public Lebanese desires to limit their presence in the country.

On May 15, 2024, several officials and politicians commented on the issue of the Syrian presence in Lebanon during the Lebanese Parliament session dedicated to discussing the European grant to Lebanon (€1 billion) and the issue of Syrian “displaced persons.”

Prime Minister Najib Mikati said that the government is intensifying its diplomatic efforts to explain “the danger of Syrian displacement to Lebanon to European countries and encourage Syrians to return to their country.”

Gebran Bassil, head of the Free Patriotic Movement, considered that the essence of the European grant is to prevent Syrians from returning to their country, fund their stay in Lebanon, and prevent them from heading to Europe.

MP George Adwan urged the government to deport Syrians, considering any inaction as its problem. He stated that the European grant is just a package of aid that has been given for years, “and we do not want money that keeps Syrians in our country,” stressing the need to address the illegal Syrian presence under the laws.