People protest in Lebanon against deporting Syrian refugees
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – On Friday, dozens of Lebanese and Syrians protested in Tripoli, the largest city in northern Lebanon, against the forcibly deportation of Syrian refugees from Lebanon.
The protesters joined Hizb ut-Tahrir party, a pan-Islamist and fundamentalist political organization in Lebanon, and held signs and banners that showed solidarity with the Syrian refugees, and condemned the Lebanese authorities’ violation of Syrians’ rights.
The protestors also denounced deporting refugees to an unknown fate in Syria under the rule of President Bashar al-Assad.
Ruptly news agency said, citing Muhammad Ibrahim, the spokesperson of the Hizb ut-Tahrir, as saying, “We will not accept the surrender of Muslims to any tyrant, especially the criminal tyrant of Ash-Sham [Al-Assad], who killed more than a million, million Muslims, and displaced more than ten million Muslims.”
However, Lebanon’s ruling class has long called for the expulsion of the more than 1.5 million Syrian refugees still living within its borders.
On April 25, Amnesty International, a human rights advocacy organization, called on the Lebanese authorities to “halt illegal deportation operations of Syrian refugees” for fear that they may face “torture or persecution” by the Syrian government.
Lebanon is witnessing incitement against Syrians on social media amid spike in racist rhetoric, in addition to the perpetration of attacks and violations against them by Lebanese citizens under the pretext of the deteriorating economic situation in the country.
According to official estimates, the number of Syrian refugees residing in Lebanon is about 1.5 million, while the number registered with the UNHCR is approximately 880,000, and they go through severe and substandard conditions.