Lebanon threatens to deport refugees

Critics say the policy violates international law

Lebanon may begin to deport refugees under a new policy that comes into effect on Wednesday, a human rights group has warned.

Under the new guidelines, Lebanon may deport "hundreds of refugees and asylum seekers," putting them at risk of arrest and torture, Amnesty International said on Monday.

We are worried about a blanket policy that doesn't distinguish between refugees and illegal immigrants

Amnesty International

"The Lebanese authorities don't seem to make a distinction between those who are fleeing persecution and those who are merely illegal immigrants", Abdel Salam Sid Ahmed of Amnesty's Middle East section told BBC News Online.

They may force people to return to "countries suffering from war or systematic human rights violation such as Iraq, Sudan and Somalia", the Amnesty statement said.

An official Lebanese response was not available.

Mr Sid Ahmed admitted that Lebanon had a right to deport illegal immigrants.

But, he said, illegal entry to the country should not prejudice a person's ability to apply for refugee status.

Deportation during application

He said that, under the new policy, people applying for refugee status at the United Nations refugee office in Beirut could be deported while their cases were being examined.

Amnesty claims that at least one such person, Sudanese asylum seeker Khamis Kaskel Murad, was forcibly returned to his country of origin this month, and that more than 300 asylum seekers have been expelled since September.

The UN Refugee Convention prohibits the forced repatriation of persons to countries where they might face serious human rights violations.

Lebanon is not a signatory of the UN Refugee Convention, but Amnesty says it is still bound by international customary law.