Lebanese Border Towns Packed with Syrian Refugees as Crackdown Intensifies
Syrian refugees are fleeing the crackdown in their towns into villages in northern Lebanon before sunset and returning at dawn to escape the raids launched overnight on their homes, the pan-Arab daily Asharq Awsat reported on Tuesday.
Sources told the newspaper that “more than 100 families are emigrating at sunset every day and temporarily from al-Qusayr, Heit, Bouiet and al-Soummaqiyat to the towns of Akroum, al-Nousoub, Houlwas, el-Kneisse and Wadi Khaled.”
“The siege on their towns includes raids on houses and arrests of youth and men who are under 50,” the sources said.
They noted that a “wounded man arrived to Lebanon after being chased by security forces in al-Qusayr. The man was submitted into Rahhal Hospital for treatment.”
The newspaper quoted sources as saying: “The Lebanese villages are preparing for rallies every night after Muslim Tarawih evening prayers, at the beginning of the last 10 days in Ramadan.”
The sources said “hundreds of Syrian refugees might participate (in the demonstrations), in support of the Syrian people.”
The daily reported most of the Syrian refugees refuse to give statements or appear in the media for fear of “vengeance.”
However, those who have the “courage” to talk refuse to have their photos taken.
Mashhour al-Youssef, one of the Syrian refugees, told the daily that “our lives became a nightmare.”
“Every day we hear news that our villages will be raided, which forces us to flee to the Lebanese (border) towns, to escape death,” he said.
Syria has repeatedly said it is battling "armed gangs" -- a claim denied by rights groups who say the crackdown has killed 1,827 civilians since mid-March, while 416 security forces also died.
The U.N. Security Council is due to hold a special meeting on Thursday on Syria, and Human Rights Watch said it had sent a message to Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi urging him to convene an "emergency meeting on Syria."
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