The Cyprus spokesperson for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Emilia Strovolidou, has urged the country to stop forcibly pushing away Syrian refugee boats arriving from Lebanon, a practice that violates international human rights law and the principle of non-refoulement. According to reports [17] from the Associated Press and monitoring group EuroMed Rights [18], Strovolidou accused Cyprus authorities of using "violent" tactics to "destabilize" boats in order to thwart refugees from arriving on the island's shores. (Jurist [19])
Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch says [12] Lebanese authorities have "arbitrarily detained, tortured, and forcibly returned Syrians to Syria in recent months." The watchdog group also noted recent reports of violence against refugees and new restrictions imposed on Syrians following the killing of a Lebanese politician. (TNH [20])
Pascal Sleiman was a coordinator in the Byblos (Jbeil) area north of Beirut for the Lebanese Forces [21], a Christian party which opposes the regime in neighboring Syria and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah. Authorities said that Sleiman was killed in a carjacking April 7 by Syrian gang members. (AFP [22])
See our last reports on summary deportation [23] of Syrian refugees.
