GENEVA (AFP)
The UN voiced concern Friday that conditions were so dire in Syria that some Lebanese residents who had fled there seeking refuge from the Israel-Hezbollah war were opting to return to Lebanon.
There are "Lebanese families who are beginning to take the very difficult and potentially life-threatening decision to return to Lebanon", said Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, the United Nations refugee agency's representative in Syria.
"These are very, very small numbers, but for us, even small numbers are worrying signals," he told reporters in Geneva via video link from the Syrian-Lebanese border.
The UNHCR estimates that around 560,000 people have fled into Syria from neighbouring Lebanon since late September, when months of cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah over the war in Gaza escalated into all-out war.
Lebanese authorities put the number even higher, at more than 610,000.
Vargas Llosa said that around 65 per cent of those crossing into Syria, which itself has been torn apart by 13 years of civil war, were Syrian nationals who had sought refuge in Lebanon from that conflict.
He hailed the "exemplary" and "extraordinary display of generosity" shown towards those arriving by communities across Syria, "whose infrastructure is destroyed, whose economy is destroyed".
But he warned that given Syria's own "catastrophic economic situation ... coupled with the severe underfunding of the humanitarian response, it is unclear for how long this generosity will last".
Worrying signs were already emerging, he said, pointing to the small numbers of people who were opting to return to Lebanon despite the risks.
UNHCR said that "on average up to 50 Lebanese individuals per day" were crossing back into Lebanon.
People are leaving because they feel "the conditions in Syria are appalling, and that they may be better off in Lebanon, in spite of the bombings", Vargas Llosa said.
Back in Lebanon, they might have better support systems, easier access to services and even the ability to generate a little income, he pointed out.
While the numbers so far are small, Vargas Llosa warned that "unless there is a real injection of international support... this number of Lebanese choosing to return home to these extraordinarily difficult circumstances may grow in the coming weeks and months". "This would be extremely worrying."
There were even some Syrian returnees who were opting to once again cross back into Lebanon, "primarily because of the extraordinarily dire economic conditions here in Syria", Vargas Llosa said.