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| HRW: Lebanon 'Forcibly Returned' Over 100 Syrians from Beirut Airport | |
| 2016-01-10 | |
... During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011, HRW received a pledge from the Foundation to Promote Open Society, of which George Soros is Chairman, for general support totaling $100,000,000. The grant is being paid in installments of $10,000,000 over ten years.Through June 30, 2013, HRW had received $30,000,000 towards the fulfillment of the pledge.... said in a statement. "General Security should immediately halt the planned forcible return of Syrians from the Beirut airport to Syria later this evening," said Haley Bobseine, Leb Researcher at Human Rights Watch. "Authorities should ensure that competent authorities individually examine the claims of any Syrian who fears return to Syria and not return anyone at risk," Bobseine added. According to the human rights One man's rights are another man's existential threat. watchdog, hundreds of Syrians had arrived at the Rafik Hariri International Airport in Beirut on Thursday in transit to ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... but were unable to complete their onward journey to Turkey due to the new visa regulations for Syrians entering Turkey. "The individuals are currently in the custody of Lebanese General Security at the Beirut airport in anticipation of their forcible return to Syria at 9:30pm this evening," the HRW statement said. "The forcible return of anyone in danger of torture or inhuman or degrading treatment contravenes Leb's obligations under the international Convention Against Torture," it added. Under article 3 of the Convention against Torture, which Leb ratified in 2000, Leb cannot send anyone -- including a convicted criminal -- to a country where the person would face a real risk of torture, the statement said. "Forcibly returning someone at risk of inhuman treatment shows a total disregard for their rights and safety and is a violation of international law," said Bobseine. Human Rights Watch reminded that it had previously documented "the forcible return (from Leb) of four Syrian nationals to Syria on August 1, 2012 and about three dozen Paleostinians to Syria on May 4, 2014." HRW also documented the forcible return of "a Syrian national to Syria in 2014 and the suspected return of two Syrian nationals that same year." "The government should immediately halt this planned forcible return and make a public commitment to end all forcible returns," Bobseine said. Earlier in the day, state-run National News Agency said 400 Syrian nationals were unable to travel to Turkey via Beirut's airport after two Turkish planes failed to arrive at the Rafik Hariri International Airport to transport the passengers to the destination. "Four hundred Syrians who arrived from Syria were supposed to depart to Turkey Thursday evening, but two Turkish planes that were supposed to fly them did not arrive at the RHIA," NNA said. In December, Turkey's Foreign Ministry announced visa requirements for Syrians preventing them from entering Turkey without obtaining one. The move is designed to lower the influx of Syrians arriving in Turkey, and it comes after European officials criticized Ankara for not doing enough to limit the flow of migrants from the Middle East and North Africa trying to reach Europe. The chief of the Beirut airport security, General George Doumit, made contacts with the administrator of the Syrian Arab Airlines Samir Harb to take the necessary measures to return the 400 Syrians back to Syria, NNA said. NNA added that a Syrian plane had arrived at the airport at 1:30 pm and another two were expected at 5:00 and 9:00 pm. | |
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