The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) joined with 20 other human rights organizations to issue a joint statement May 11 protesting Lebanon’s summary deportation of Syrian refugees. The rights organizations say the deportations violate the international law principle of non-refoulement, which protects individuals from being returned to a country where they may face torture, cruel or degrading treatment, or other irreparable harm. “The Lebanese Armed Forces have recently…summarily deported hundreds of Syrians back to Syria, where they are at risk of persecution or torture,” the statement charges. “The deportations come amid an alarming surge in anti-refugee rhetoric in Lebanon and…coercive measures intended to pressure refugees to return.” (Jurist, SNHR)
Syrian refugees are also facing summary deportation in Turkey.
Photo: EU Civil Protection & Humanitarian Aid via Flickr
