BEIRUT: More than 200,000 Syrian refugees have returned to their homeland from neighboring Lebanon this year following the fall of longtime ruler Bashar Assad, a United Nations official told AFP.
The Syrian civil war, which erupted in 2011 with Assad’s brutal repression of anti-government protests, displaced half of the population internally or abroad.
But the December 8 ouster of the former Syrian president at the hands of Islamist forces sparked hopes of return.
Lebanese authorities recently introduced a plan offering $100 in aid and exemptions from fines for refugees leaving the country, provided they pledge not to return as asylum seekers.
“Since the beginning of this year, we’re looking at about 200,000 Syrians that have gone back, most of them on their own,” said Kelly Clements, deputy high commissioner at the UN refugee agency (UNHCR).
