Lebanon should grant immediate asylum to Syrians fleeing violence in their country instead of detaining them, Human Rights Watch said Friday.
"Lebanon's security forces should stop detaining Syrian refugees who cross the border into Lebanon to escape violence and persecution in their country," the New York-based rights group said.
At least 5,000 refugees have arrived in northern Lebanon since the end of April as Syrian security forces crack down on protesters demanding the end of President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
The rights group called on Lebanon to provide Syrian refugees "with at least temporary asylum, and above all refrain from deporting them back" to their country.
"Syria welcomed many Lebanese fleeing civil war back in 2006," said Nadim Houry, director of HRW's Beirut office. "Now it's time to return the favor.
HRW said it documented the detention by Lebanon's security forces of nine Syrian men and one child since May 15, allegedly for crossing illegally into Lebanon.
Syria's violence spilled into Lebanon on Sunday when a woman, among dozens fleeing Tall Kalakh, was shot dead and six other people were wounded.
Two Syrian soldiers who had escaped across the border to Lebanon were being held by the Lebanese army along with the body of a third, human rights activist Nabil Halabi said Tuesday.
Several rights group, including Halabi's Lebanese Institute for Democracy and Human Rights, called on the Lebanese army not to hand the defectors back to Syrian authorities for fear of reprisals.
Deporting asylum seekers and refugees, Houry said, would "make Lebanon complicit with any harm they suffer at the hand of Syria's security services upon their return."
UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic said on Friday from Geneva that most of the people who have crossed the border in recent weeks "are women and children. In addition to their immediate need for food, shelter and medical help, they also need psycho-social support."
"Local authorities estimate that around 4,000 Syrians have crossed to Lebanon recently. The exact numbers are difficult to confirm," the spokesman added said.
Pro-democracy protests erupted in several Syrian towns and villages on Friday, with demonstrators calling for more freedom in defiance of a brutal crackdown.
At least 5,000 refugees have arrived in northern Lebanon since the end of April as Syrian security forces crack down on protesters demanding the end of President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
The rights group called on Lebanon to provide Syrian refugees "with at least temporary asylum, and above all refrain from deporting them back" to their country.
"Syria welcomed many Lebanese fleeing civil war back in 2006," said Nadim Houry, director of HRW's Beirut office. "Now it's time to return the favor.
HRW said it documented the detention by Lebanon's security forces of nine Syrian men and one child since May 15, allegedly for crossing illegally into Lebanon.
Syria's violence spilled into Lebanon on Sunday when a woman, among dozens fleeing Tall Kalakh, was shot dead and six other people were wounded.
Two Syrian soldiers who had escaped across the border to Lebanon were being held by the Lebanese army along with the body of a third, human rights activist Nabil Halabi said Tuesday.
Several rights group, including Halabi's Lebanese Institute for Democracy and Human Rights, called on the Lebanese army not to hand the defectors back to Syrian authorities for fear of reprisals.
Deporting asylum seekers and refugees, Houry said, would "make Lebanon complicit with any harm they suffer at the hand of Syria's security services upon their return."
UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic said on Friday from Geneva that most of the people who have crossed the border in recent weeks "are women and children. In addition to their immediate need for food, shelter and medical help, they also need psycho-social support."
"Local authorities estimate that around 4,000 Syrians have crossed to Lebanon recently. The exact numbers are difficult to confirm," the spokesman added said.
Pro-democracy protests erupted in several Syrian towns and villages on Friday, with demonstrators calling for more freedom in defiance of a brutal crackdown.
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