More than 21,000 Syrians have fled to Lebanon during the month of March as the deadliest sectarian violence since Bashar al-Assad’s ousting has ravaged Syria’s Alawite heartland, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) reported Tuesday.
The surge in refugees follows a wave of mass killings in Syria’s coastal region, particularly targeting the Alawite community, to which Assad’s family belongs.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimates that 1,600 civilians, mostly Alawites, were killed in brutal field executions, forced displacement, and home burnings. Women, children, and the elderly were among the victims.
Lebanese authorities and the Lebanese Red Cross recorded “21,637 new arrivals from Syria” into northern Lebanon, UNHCR reported. Many refugees have crossed through unofficial routes, including rivers, arriving exhausted, traumatized, and hungry. Insecurity within Syria has further complicated their escape. Among the displaced are around 390 Lebanese families.
Syria’s interim president, Ahmad al-Shareh, has vowed to prosecute those responsible and formed a fact-finding committee to investigate the killings. Spokesman Yasser al-Farhan confirmed that the committee has collected over 95 testimonies and 93 pieces of digital evidence.
Investigators have interviewed hundreds of witnesses in Latakia province and plan to extend their probe to Tartus and other regions.
Farhan stated that while no attacks on the committee have occurred, dangers remain due to “outlaws implicated in crimes against humanity.”
He emphasized the need for a transitional justice law and a special national court to prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity in post-Assad Syria.
With AFP
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