Syrians attempting to flee across the Lebanese border to escape the violent clampdown of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad are being rounded up and returned to an uncertain fate by Lebanese security forces, according to local residents.
In an attempt to escape a siege by Syrian security forces, hundreds of residents of the small town of Tell Kalakh – near the Lebanese border – placed provisions into plastic grocery bags and their wounded relatives onto cheap synthetic blankets and crossed into Lebanon, where they hoped to find safety with distant relatives and sympathetic residents of the northern city of Tripoli. Crossing the muddy and shallow Kabir river on foot within plain view of the Lebanese army checkpoint in nearby Wadi Khaled, the refugees and wounded made it to what they thought was the safety of Sunni Muslims in the area, who have long hated the neighbouring Syrian regime.
But according to witnesses, their relief was short-lived as almost all the refugees were rounded up within hours of their arrival over the weekend by Lebanese intelligence agents acting under orders to prevent Syrians from escaping the violent crackdown by Assad's Ba'athist regime.
"There were roadblocks everywhere," said Abu Rabih, who would not give his real name for fear of arrest. "It was impossible to hide who these people were, they were looking for Syrians escaping Tell Kalakh."
The arrested refugees were returned to the Syrian security services by daybreak, said residents and witnesses interviewed by the Guardian. "They caught most of them and sent them back through the crossing," said Abu Rabih, who runs a shop a few hundred metres from the illegal border crossing over the river.