Refugees crisis | Lebanon deports second batch of Syrians, while Lebanese Hezbollah accused of burning Lebanon’s “Al-Wafa camp” in Arsal

SOHR activists have reported that a new batch of Syrian refugees in Lebanon arrived in Syrian territory Saturday morning, via Al-Dabbousiyah crossing in western Homs countryside.

The convoy included four buses as a first batch carrying nearly 200 people, mostly women and children, who crossed into Syria to complement the refugee repatriation programme announced by the Lebanese government last October.

The first batches of nearly 1,000 Syrians returning from Lebanon officially arrived in Syria on October 26.

Meanwhile, sources from Lebanon have reported the refusal of Syrian refugees in the refugee camps to the return programme, which the governments of the Syrian and Lebanese countries have described as voluntary return, and have preferred to stay in Lebanon despite being mired in dire living conditions.

The sources, who declined to be identified for security reasons, held Hezbollah militia members directly responsible for the arson attack in Omani Al-Wafa camp in Arsal area, which broke out this morning, causing nearly 100 tents to burn, not to mention material damage to refugee properties.

A large segment of the camp residents considered that the fire that broke out today was due to an act intended to force its inhabitants to register the regulations of those wishing to return voluntarily to areas controlled by the Syrian regime.