Ten years after fleeing the war, Nawal and her husband were returned from Cyprus to Syria. In 2013, the woman fled the war that continues to devastate her country, with her husband and seven children. From Syria, they crossed the border into Lebanon, where they were granted refugee status, according to their testimonies collected in the latest Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, “I Can’t Go Home, Stay Here, or Leave”: Returns and Expulsions of Syrians. Refugees from Cyprus and Lebanon.
Lebanese policies that denied them legal status to find work and send their children to school pushed them to take the next step: boarding a boat to Cyprus. “I wanted to leave Lebanon because of the racism that exists here. After the financial crisis, all the problems are blamed on the Syrians,” Nawal said.
After a failed attempt, the family arrived in Cyprus on the morning of 28 July 2023. Like the rest of the passengers, they were taken to a detention centre but, despite being assured by a guard that they would go to a “camp”, Nawal told the NGO that Cypriot officers took them to a port. The woman asked a police officer where they were being taken and he told her: “We will take you to Syria”.
Nawal and her family arrived in Damascus, but were able to return to Lebanon after crossing the border illegally for the second time. HRW’s investigation includes cases like her family’s and reveals cooperation between the Lebanese armed forces and Cypriot authorities to prevent refugees leaving Lebanon from reaching Europe via the Mediterranean Sea.
According to the report, unbearable conditions are forcing many Syrian refugees to leave for Europe, particularly Cyprus, given its proximity to the Lebanese coast, “on boats that neither leave nor enter official ports.” “In response, Lebanon, Cyprus and the EU are implementing a policy of containment,” the NGO denounces.
During returns, Lebanese and Cypriot authorities use violence against migrants. Nawal told HRW how Cypriot police beat her husband, mocked him, and forced him onto the boat that would take him back to Lebanon. Another witness said that after they were arrested by the Cypriot coastguard, authorities “used a stun gun and a baton.” Back in Lebanon, “the army took us out of the port and took us to a no-man’s land between the borders.” [siria y libanesa] telling us to run the other way.
“Cyprus is violating the prohibition on returning a refugee to persecution,” said Nadia Hardman, refugee and migrant rights researcher at HRW. According to the report – based on aircraft and ship tracking data and interviews with Syrian refugees who attempted to leave Lebanon irregularly between August 2021 and September 2023 – Cyprus has illegally expelled Syrians who arrived on its shores without offering them the opportunity to seek asylum.
EU-funded border control
The human rights group says Cyprus has been continuously returning Syrian refugees to Lebanon since 2020. The government has repeatedly offered to conduct joint patrols with the Lebanese navy to stop any movement of irregular vessels and, since late 2023, has called on the EU to declare parts of Syria safe for the return of refugees. The UN considers that the country is not yet ready for the return of those who have fled violence and political persecution.
HRW notes that the European Union and some of its member states have provided up to €16.7 million in funding between 2020 and 2023 to implement border management projects aimed primarily at improving Lebanon’s capacity to curb irregular migration.
According to the report, in May 2024, the EU allocated a larger budget: €1 billion until 2027, which includes money for the “Lebanese Armed Forces and other security forces equipped and trained for border management and combating human trafficking.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at the time that the EU would have “good cooperation” with Lebanon to “prevent illegal immigration and combat human trafficking.” A week later, the Arab country’s General Security Bureau announced new measures to further restrict Syrians’ ability to obtain asylum and stepped up raids, detentions and forced deportations, according to HRW.
Previously, on April 13, 2024, Cyprus announced that it had suspended the processing of asylum applications for all Syrians on its territory.
The NGO demands that forced returns and refugee returns to Lebanon be stopped and that they be allowed to “disembark on Cypriot territory those found in boats intercepted by the Cypriot coastguard, whether in Cypriot or international waters”, in addition to having the possibility of requesting international protection in Cyprus.
