(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Beirut: About 500 Syrian refugees are preparing to leave Lebanon's Shebaa, returning to their homes in the south of Beit Jinn, south of the Syrian border, through the border crossing point between the two countries, in the first step to the return of displaced Syrians to their homeland, the Lebanese sources said Wednesday.
The National News Agency said that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Lebanon confirmed in a statement today that it is aware of the return of some 500 Syrian refugees from Shebaa in Lebanon to Beit Jinn in Syria under the auspices of the Lebanese General Security.
UNHCR is not involved in organizing this return or other return movements at this stage because of the humanitarian and security situation prevailing in Syria, the statement said, referring to the UNHCR teams on the ground, which discussed the issue with refugees and relevant authorities to assess refugee intentions and the circumstances in which such returns would take place.
The agency added that 15 buses coming from Damascus to transport the displaced Syrians began to cross the Syrian-Lebanese border to the Lebanese town of Shebaa, and this must be ended today.
The estimated number of Syrian refugees in Shebaa town is about 5,000. They have fled the conflicts in Syria since 2012, most of them from are from Beit Jinn town, while in Lebanon there are about 1.5 million Syrian refugees in difficult humanitarian conditions amid the inability of the Government of Lebanon to provide them humanitarian needs, and in the absence of the international community's obligations to them.
Attention now turns towards Brussels conference 2 to be held on April 25 to help countries hosting displaced people, including Lebanon, amid concerns about prolonging displaced people on Lebanese territory in the light of military escalation in the region. (QNA)
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