Hezbollah’s Secretary-General, Hassan Nasrallah, urged Lebanese authorities on Monday to “open the sea” for Syrian refugees, aiming to pressure the European Union and the United States to assist in their return to Syria and provide aid there.
Nasrallah said in a televised speech, “Let there be a national decision saying ‘we have opened the sea’ for you Syrian refugees, for anyone who wants to leave for Europe, to Cyprus, the sea is open before you. Take ships and sail.”
He clarified, “We have never proposed forcing Syrian refugees onto ships… We say give them this option… They are currently prohibited, which is why they resort to smuggling and embark on rubber boats, risking drowning in the sea because the Lebanese army is implementing a political decision to prevent migration.”
Lebanon, experiencing a severe economic crisis since the fall of 2019, hosts around two million Syrians, with fewer than 800,000 registered with the United Nations, the highest number of refugees per capita in the world.
Authorities view the issue as an unbearable burden after four years of chronic economic collapse. Hostility towards refugees has recently intensified, with major political forces concurring on the necessity of finding a “permanent solution” by repatriating them to their homeland.
Nasrallah considered achieving “national consensus” on opening the sea for refugees as sufficient to compel the European Union and the United States to assist in finding a solution. He explained that then “they would say we want to help, and the Syrian state to repatriate the refugees to Syria and provide them with assistance there, and all issues become solvable.”
Parliament called for pressure on the European Union and Washington to lift sanctions imposed on Syria, which hinder the reconstruction process. Nasrallah stated, “If sanctions on Syria are not lifted, the refugees cannot be returned.”
Nasrallah’s statements came on the eve of Lebanon resuming on Tuesday the “voluntary return” process of refugees to Syria through two border crossings in the east of the country after a year and a half hiatus.
Parliament will discuss on Wednesday a €1 billion aid package to Lebanon until 2027, announced by the European Union earlier this month, relying on the authorities’ “cooperation” in border control and combating refugee smuggling.
Cyprus reports an increasing influx of Syrian migrants from Lebanon irregularly, amidst escalating tensions between Hezbollah and Israel, which weakened Lebanon’s efforts in monitoring its territorial waters and preventing migrant boat departures.
The announcement of European assistance raised concerns among major parties and religious figures, expressing fears of a Western inclination to keep Syrians in Lebanon.
Eight civil society organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, expressed in a joint statement their fear that European Union aid could lead to “forced refugee returns, making Lebanon and the European Union complicit in violating the customary international law principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits forcibly returning individuals to countries where they face persecution or other serious human rights abuses.”
The United Nations warned in February that many Syrian refugees returning to their country face “serious violations” of their rights, especially “torture” and “sexual violence.”