Syrians who have already escaped the war in their homeland and are seeking refuge in Lebanon, a country on Israel’s northern border, fear that an expansion of the conflict could force them to return to Syria.
Basil was 15 when he fled Syria to make a new life in neighboring Lebanon. He now fears that the raging conflict between Hamas and Israel could expand and destabilize the region that is already at stake.
If the war in Lebanon expands, he and other refugees could be forced to make an impossible decision: survive another war or return to their repressive homeland, Al Jazeera reported Friday.
“Returning to Syria will be my last option,” Basil told Al Jazeera newspaper in an interview at a hairdresser in Beirut, the Lebanese capital.
“There is neither security nor stability [en Syrie]”, he added.
According to old government figures, 1.5 million Syrian refugees live in Lebanon. However, only 800,000 are registered by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
Many of them also witnessed violence on the southern border between Israel and Hezbollah, a Lebanese political group and Hamas ally alongside Syria and Iran.
Several villages in southern Lebanon have already been emptied, with people fleeing possible bombings.
19-year-old Ahmed admitted that he fled Syria two years ago to avoid compulsory military service.
“How will we travel?” [vers un pays plus sûr] if there is a problem in Lebanon? Most Syrians do not have passports or any form of identification,” he said.
Mohamad, also a Syrian refugee, added that increasing racism in Lebanon makes refugees fearful of migrating to other communities in the country if war breaks out. Israel’s main strikes would target Hezbollah-controlled areas such as southern Lebanon and the southern outskirts of Beirut.