The Syrian Refugees’ Return to their Homeland: Approaches and Prospects

The Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) and the Middle East Institute for Research and Strategic Studies (MEIRSS) published together a policy paper,  titled “The Head Out of the Sand – The Syrian Refugees’ Return to their Homeland: Approaches and Prospects”, authored by Dr. Elie El Hindy, Dr. Charbel Al Alam, Maya Succar, and Laura El Chemaly.

Lebanon is facing the riskiest and most difficult challenge. The risk in Lebanon is almost existential given the complexities of the Lebanese reality, the failure of the Lebanese state to carry out its simplest duties, the interdependence of the Lebanese and Syrian state of affairs, and the high refugee-to-citizen ratio in Lebanon – the highest recorded in the history of refugee crises in the world. It is thus obvious that working on the refugees’ return from Lebanon to Syria as a permanent solution to the crisis is not a luxury but an imperative need.

This paper is an in-depth study on how to address obstacles preventing Lebanon from developing and adopting the “National Emergency Plan for the Return of Refugees” and how the urgent need for refugees to return can be balanced against the standards required to protect them and preserve their rights.

The policy paper is available below: