This report is based on detailed interviews conducted by Human Rights Watch (HRW) between 2021 and 2024. HRW interviewed 16 Syrians, including women and children, who attempted to leave Lebanon by boat.
The research focuses specifically on the story of Nawal. Nawal, a Syrian refugee, fled Syria in 2013 with her husband and seven children to escape the Syrian civil war. After seeking asylum in Lebanon, her family, like many other refugees, faced severe legal and social restrictions. These challenges worsened as Lebanon’s economy collapsed in 2019. With no hope for stability or asylum, Nawal and her family tried to escape to Cyprus via irregular boat crossings, only to face forced returns by both Lebanese and Cypriot authorities.
The objective of this report is to highlight the human rights violations these refugees face, especially in the context of international law, including violations of non-refoulement obligations. The report uncovers the repeated pushbacks and pullbacks Syrian refugees face, with the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and Cypriot authorities directly involved in preventing their safe passage. Nawal’s family, after two failed attempts, was subjected to unlawful detention, violence, and eventual expulsion to Syria, where they were detained again. Pushed back to Syria, refugees have been persecuted again, tortured, and, in some cases, killed, by Syrian government forces. Interviews reveal that also Cypriot and Lebanese authorities use physical force and coercion to detain refugees, violating their rights to seek asylum. Moreover, the EU’s financial assistance to Lebanon for border control has indirectly supported these abuses.
Moreover, no clear justification was provided to justify the cruel treatment, detention, and refusal to give access to international protection procedures by Lebanese and Cypriot authorities, exposing refugees and asylum seekers to a perpetual cycle of violations and human rights abuses.
The findings emphasize that Lebanon and Cyprus must halt illegal border practices and collective expulsions, and ensure that Syrian refugees have access to asylum processes. Additionally, the EU and donor countries should impose mechanisms to prevent human rights abuses associated with migration management funding. Without these reforms, refugees like Nawal will continue to be trapped in cycles of danger, violence, and displacement.
To read more, please visit
- https://www.unrefugees.org/news/syria-refugee-crisis-explained/
- https://www.care.org/our-work/disaster-response/emergencies/syrian-refugee-crisis/
- https://reliefweb.int/report/lebanon/i-cant-go-home-stay-here-or-leave-pushbacks-and-pullbacks-syrian-refugees-cyprus-and-lebanon-enardeit
