Syrian refugees begin return from Lebanon under new UN plan

The first group of Syrian refugees returned home form Lebanon on Tuesday under a new plan the UN developed with the Lebanese government following the ouster of the Assad regime in December.

Syria's brutal 14-year civil war triggered the displacement of more than 14 million civilians, an estimated 1.5 million of whom fled to Lebanon.

Under the plan, UN refugee agency (UNHCR) will give $100 to every refugee who returns to Syria and Lebanese authorities will waive any outstanding fees or fines. The agency and the International Organisation for Migration will provide buses to transport them across the border.

Seventy-two people returned to Syria on the first day of the program, a UNHCR source told Al Araby Al Jadeed, the Arabic-language sister site of The New Arab.

More than 15,300 refugees in Lebanon have expressed interest in returning to Syria via the program, in what UNHCR Lebanon spokesperson Lisa Abou Khaled said was a "positive sign".

More than 126,000 people have already returned home since December, she told Al Araby Al Jadeed.

Lebanese authorities have pushed for the repatriation of Syrian refugees for years, an ambition that only became a possibility after Islamist rebels overthrew the Assad government in December.

Lebanon has been under severe pressure from a catastrophic economic crisis that plunged millions into poverty and strained its ability to house hundreds of thousands of refugees.

With the fall of Assad, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam's government is hoping to accelerate their repatriation.

Syria's new interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa is attempting to stabilise the country following the long civil war. His government has succeeded in persuading Western governments to lift crippling sanctions that exacerbated the humanitarian and economic crisis sparked by the conflict.

However, outbursts of communal violence have continued to plague the country, bringing risks of fresh influxes of refugees into neighbouring countries.

Tens of thousands of predominately Alawite civilians fled the country into northern Lebanon earlier this year in the wake of the sectarian killings in the coastal region.

Meanwhile, more than 128,000 people were internally displaced by the violence between Bedouin tribes, Druze militia and government forces in Suweida earlier this month.

(Agencies contributed to this report)