Beirut-Sana
The burning of the Syrian refugee camp in the Minya district of northern Lebanon last night and the displacement of hundreds of them was not the first incident in which the refugees were subjected to attacks in the countries of asylum, which varied in its forms and differed from one country to another.
Although Lebanese officials unanimously condemned the attack, describing it as a crime, and that it is an individual act, the incident reminds us of the incident of the attacks on Syrian refugees in the Bcharre region about a month ago against the background of the killing of a Lebanese youth as well as the attacks in November of 2019 against a group of Syrian refugees opposite Uhud Banks in Zahle, while dozens of youths in Arsal attacked and destroyed shops owned by Syrian refugees inside the town.
The governor of North Lebanon, Ramzi Nahra, strongly condemned the fire incident and said: “What happened was an individual act that led to the great tragedy that we see in front of us today, and all rational people denounce it. We condemn what happened because it is outside our customs and traditions.” However, he revealed the extent of the tragedy when he showed that the number of tents that were burned exceeds 100 tents and that between 500 and 700 people in the camp had to leave due to the burning of their tents.
This incident requires the host countries to provide protection for refugees, stop incitement against them, and cooperate with the Syrian state to return them to their areas and homes, especially with the Syrian government announcing more than once its readiness to return refugees to their villages and areas.
The Minister of Social Affairs and Tourism in the Lebanese caretaker government, Ramzi Al-Musharrafia, affirmed that “burning the tents of Syrian refugees is a criminal act condemned by all standards,” calling on the Lebanese judiciary to impose the most severe penalties for the perpetrators of the crime, at a time when the Lebanese army announced the arrest of a number of persons who caused the burning of the camp.
The repeated attacks against Syrian refugees in Lebanon are part of the organized crimes committed against them in refugee camps in Turkey by the regime of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who invested in their cause for a long time and traded in it to earn money internationally and in Europe, not to mention the crimes committed against them almost daily in Turkey to pressure them towards implementing policies The destructive Turkish regime in Syria and the region in general.
These crimes against refugees clearly demonstrate the importance of their return to their homeland, as confirmed by the final statement of the International Conference on the Return of Syrian Refugees and the need to assist in the safe and voluntary return of the displaced and the displaced to their chosen places of residence and the reconstruction of the affected areas.