The escalation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah since September 2024 and Israeli bombing of civilian areas across Lebanon have sparked deep conflict humanitarian disaster.
Mass displacement over 1 million peopleincluding Lebanese nationals, migrant employees AND Syrian AND Palestinian refugees, it has triggered a crisis in Lebanon. However, an equally significant phenomenon is happening beyond Lebanon’s southern border with Israel: movement people displaced from Lebanon to Syria.
Estimated 400,000 Lebanese and Syrians have reportedly fled to Syria as a result of overpopulation border crossings.
Not to be confused with back, this movement represents a reversal of the refugee flow after Syria descended into civil war in 2011. It can also be emblematic of a broader pattern of cyclical displacement crises in the region.
Complex and interconnected stories Lebanon and Syria – where each of them was at different times shelter for residents of the other side – challenge the easy binaries often related to the refugee experience.
The exchange of roles between Lebanon and Syria highlights not only the fragility of regional stability, but additionally the fluidity of displacement – in addition to the deeper implications that cross-border movement has for the socio-political dynamics of each countries.
The story of mutual shelter
The relations between Lebanon and Syria has long been complex and oscillates between cooperation and tension. Despite Syria’s official withdrawal from Lebanon in 2005 a long time as an occupying forcethe two countries remain connected as a result of shared borders, economic ties and security concerns. Collaboration exists in areas corresponding to tradebut there may be considerable tension, particularly with the presence of the over 1 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
However, in their modern history, one of the most enduring bonds has been their shared experiences of displacement and refuge, dating back to their origins Civil war in Lebanon. Between 1975 and 1990, hundreds of Lebanese fled to Syria to flee the sectarian conflict that engulfed their homeland.
However, the post-war period was marked by a change in the dynamics between the two countries. The 2005 withdrawal Syrian troops from Lebanon marked the starting of a brand new chapter in their relations.
Tensions rose as Lebanon tried to rebuild and assert its sovereignty after the law 30 years Syrian occupation. However, the trend of upheavals in the region soon led to a different role reversal a long time later, it was estimated 180,000 Lebanese he took it refuge in Syria while July War 2006.
With the arrival Civil war in Syria in 2011 it was Lebanon’s turn to function a refuge. Until 2015 1 million Syrians are fleeing violence made a visit to Lebanon.
Despite being one of 44 countries he never signed 1951 Refugee Convention. Lebanon is the country receiving the largest number of refugees refugees per capita globally.
Because Lebanon has not signed the convention, it doesn’t formally recognize refugee status, which it says gives the country more control over its refugee policy. Although Lebanon receives humanitarian aid from the United Nations Refugee Agency, refugees remain in: uncertain legal statuswith limited rights.
For many Lebanese, the recent influx of fleeing refugees from Syria has revived memories of their very own displacement, while for others it has been a trigger anti-refugee sentiment.
Bouncing between 2 war torn countries
With the latest escalation of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, history is repeating itself again. Lebanese residents, mainly from Hezbollah’s strongholds in southern Lebanon and the Beqaa Valley, are searching for refuge in Syria, a rustic still battling its own problems economic collapse, violence and internal conflicts.
Although the conflict on Lebanese territory has been ongoing for over a yr, movements into Syria only intensified at the end of September 2024, when people they develop into increasingly eager to escape.
As one displaced person forced to flee Beirut explained to me: “Syria was certainly not a ‘better’ option than Lebanon six months ago, but in the last week, since the attacks on Beirut and the political assassinations, Syria is safer – it goes through it anyway. This is how unsafe we feel in Beirut – bouncing between one war-torn country and another.”
Implications for refugee-host dynamics
The cyclical nature of resettlements between Lebanon and Syria subverts the prevailing political narrative the host-refugee dynamic is constant and unidirectional.
Syrians were resettled in Lebanon presented by some Lebanese politicians as one-way. This appears to be intended to border Syrian refugees as the only person aid recipients – unlike Lebanese residents – as well load is Lebanon.
However, when displacement occurs in each directions, this narrative begins to interrupt down.
Syrian refugees who once sought safety in Lebanon now see their country as… a safer haven – although fragile and temporary. Meanwhile, the residents of Lebanon are faced the same type of susceptibility and desperation that their Syrian counterparts have experienced over the past decade.
Importantly, testimonies from people traveling from their “temporary” home in Lebanon back to Syria emphasize that these movements shouldn’t be confused with back movements. Rather, they’re a short lived solution in themselves.
As one Syrian who fled his Lebanese home explained to me: “No, I’m not going back. I prefer to leave one foot in Lebanon and the other in Syria. Syria is not a safe place by any means. As men, we are at risk of arrest and forced conscription. But Lebanon is temporarily, at this point in history, much less safe. We make this assessment week by week. I sent my wife and children first. I will follow.”
For their part, IDPs arriving in Syria insist that the moves are “entirely temporary.” One of them told me: “Syria is no stranger to us. This feels close and familiar. But most importantly, it feels temporary and appropriate proximity to Lebanon. As soon as the situation calms down, we will return to our homes. Many of us have nothing to return to, but even then we will not stay in Syria.”
Displacement tension
Both Lebanon and Syria are in some ways ill-prepared to address a brand new wave of displacement.
Ratib Al Safadi/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
By 2023, the cause was Lebanon’s economic collapse 80% of its population into poverty, which makes it almost unimaginable to tackle the additional weight load internal displacement.
Government paralysiscompounded by political impasse, leaves internally displaced individuals with little or no state support, mainly relying to survive using help and social networks.
Syria, although positioned as the “host” of the current migration flow, has the same situation forced. Country infrastructure stays devastated by greater than a decade of civil war. Basic services are stretched thin and economy he didn’t get better. Humanitarian organizations coordinating the response are operating under overstretched resources is decreasing support.
A region plunged into everlasting chaos
I fear that as the armed conflict between Israel and Hezbollah escalates, the displacement crisis in Lebanon and Syria is more likely to worsen.
The recent wave of Syrian and Lebanese refugees into Syria demonstrates the cyclical nature of refuge in the region. Ultimately, the ongoing displacement crisis in Lebanon and Syria is a reminder that refuge is commonly temporary and depending on changing geopolitics in the region.
The histories of these two countries, each of which served as havens for the other’s displaced populations, underscore the complexity of displacement in the Middle East.
The indisputable fact that Lebanese residents at the moment are searching for refuge in Syria, a rustic from which over one million refugees fled just over a decade ago, underscores the variability of regional displacement patterns. It also raises critical questions on the sustainability of international refugee systems, which too often depend on static, one-way migration models and don’t keep in mind the fluid and often reversible nature of resettlement.