Lebanon’s Syrian refugees turn their eyes to home after fall of Assad

Following years of separation from his family, Faisal al-Turki Najjar has now packed his bags, ready to leave Lebanon immediately and return home to Syria.

“Our country is in ruins,” he told Middle East Eye at the offices of the refugee-led organisation Multi-Aid Programs (MAPs) in the village of Taanayel, a couple of kilometres from the Saadnayel refugee camp.

“It needs people to rebuild it. It needs people in the army, the police force, security, healthcare, all sectors. If the good people do not come back, it will be taken over by thieves and those who want to exploit [the situation].” 

Najjar, who escaped military conscription in 2017, is one of many Syrians now planning their return home.

A number of Lebanon’s estimated 1.5 million Syrian refugees have already returned to Syria since former president Bashar al-Assad was overthrown on 8 December, according to aid workers and refugees who spoke to MEE.

Lebanese officials, having long been criticised by Syrian and international aid organisations for reportedly trying to force refugees back during Assad’s rule, reiterated their call for Syrians to return to their country.

Now, Syrians are expected to willingly return.

“I do not think a single refugee in Lebanon will stay here,” said Mohammed Kalass, media and communications director at MAPs, which supports refugees in Lebanon’s Beqaa valley, an area that includes Saadnayel, home to some 18,000 refugees, almost all of whom are Syrian.

‘A bit of optimism’

Prior to Assad’s overthrow, hundreds of thousands of Syrians had already left Lebanon for their home country, fleeing Israel’s two-months war.

“During the war on Lebanon, some of [the refugees] had already gone back to Syria, while others stayed here,” Kalass said. “Those who struggled the most are those who were displaced twice, by leaving Syria then escaping to other refugee camps in Lebanon.”

While they were previously escaping one war after the other, Kalass says Syrians are now feeling “a bit of optimism”.

Most remain cautious, however, as Israeli advances and relentless bombardments in Syria continue, along with clashes between Turkish-backed Syrian factions and Kurdish forces in the northeast and uncertainty over the direction the new rulers of Syria, led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), will take.

Syria’s internal security and economic situation also remains highly unstable, leading some to wait for more clarity over the country’s future before deciding to return.

For Najjar, whose hometown of Mareh remains under the control of disorganised Turkish-backed groups, there is a sense of duty that is pushing him to go home.

While avoiding Mareh due to his distrust of the ruling factions, he will be renting a place in Aleppo, which is close enough for his parents to visit him.

“I could work as a teacher, or if they need me as a policeman, a soldier, a security officer. I am ready to take on any government job,” he said. “Even if they need me in the municipality, I am ready. What matters is that I work in rebuilding the country. It is my duty towards my region.”

‘I will build a tent for me to have something. I do not mind… Let me build one in my home’

– Rabih, Syrian refugee in Lebanon 

Returning is not as straightforward for many, though, as countless homes and entire towns have been destroyed by the war.

Rabih, a man from Syria’s border town of Qusayr who asked to only share his first name, lost his home before escaping to Arsal, a town in Lebanon, in 2013.

When his daughter was injured during the Lebanese army’s battles with the Islamic State group in the area, he fled again to the Beqaa valley, hoping to finally return to Qusayr and live a stable life once his daughter finished her school exams.

“I will build a tent for me to have something,” he told MEE. “I do not mind. I lived in a tent for five years [in Lebanon]. Let me build one in my home. I will be establishing myself from scratch, but I will be working towards something that gives me hope for myself and for my children.”

The enthusiasm was shared by Kalass, who said that a quarter of the refugee-led MAPs’ staff are hoping to return to Syria in the coming weeks.

While MAPs may not remain in Lebanon in the next few years, Kalass hopes it will establish an office in Damascus while retaining some presence in the Beqaa valley to support its Lebanese beneficiaries.

Refugees from the northeast

Mahmoud Ahmad Mohammed, a man living in a refugee camp in Saadnayel, roughly 20km away from Syria, said that his “joy could not be described” when he learned of the Assad government’s fall.

“There was so much pain and humiliation before,” he said, adding that he feels “very optimistic” for his country’s future.

“Syria is a paradise, but these oppressors are the ones who ruined it,” he told MEE.

Despite this joy, Mohammed and other Syrians around him have no plans to return home yet.

Many refugees in the area hail from Raqqa, a city in Syria’s northeast currently under the control of the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The northeast is witnessing intense fighting as Turkey-backed groups try to make new advances against the SDF, which is backed by the US.

Zahra Moussa Amari, Mohammed’s neighbour, lost her home in Raqqa years ago, and does not think it is safe enough to return.

However, she says the Saadnayel camp’s population has decreased since Assad’s fall, as those who came from other parts of Syria have already returned home or are packing their bags.

“Once it is safe, of course we will go back,” she said. “One does not stay in a situation like ours if they were not forced into it.”

An important point for all of them is Syria’s unification after years of seeing their country carved into different pockets of control.

“We want Syria to be under one single flag,” said Mohammed.