Al-Assad aligned parties pressure Syrian refugees in Lebanon to legitimize upcoming presidential elections

In an effort to legitimize presidential elections to be held on 26 May, the Syrian regime’s political arms in Lebanon are pressuring Syrian refugees and threatening them into voting no later than 20 May at the Syrian embassy in Lebanon.

The issue of pressing Syrian refugees in Lebanon to participate in the upcoming elections was raised recently after the Lebanese Lorient-Le Jour newspaper published on 30 April a report in which it mentioned that Lebanese political bodies had begun pushing hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees to the polls.

The newspaper mentioned that “Syrian organizations aligned with the government of Bashar al-Assad and pro-Assad Lebanese political parties and individuals have been making the rounds to cajole and — according to some — threaten Syrians into registering their names on voter lists and going to the polls.”

According to the newspaper report, the Association of Syrian Workers in Lebanon, a pro-Assad group that works in coordination with the Syrian embassy, issued a statement urging Syrians in Lebanon to vote in the elections, which it called an “important milestone in the contemporary history of Syria, which defeated terrorism, siege, and sanctions.”

On 3 May, a group of al-Assad’s loyalists marched the streets of Jabal Mohsen neighborhood in Tripoli and chanted slogans in support of al-Assad, such as “God, Syria, and Bashar!” This outraged activists who described the support rallies as a “thugs rally.”

Threats against Syrian refugee activists in Lebanon

Amidst fears of talking to the press, especially in areas under the influence of Syrian regime allies, Enab Baladi spoke to four Syrian activists who have confirmed threats and pressure attempts against Syrians in Lebanon, while an activist denied any threats of this type.

Walid Mohammed, a human rights activist in the Baalbek area, talked to Enab Baladi under a pseudonym for security reasons and said that since about mid-April, pro-Syrian regime entities started pressuring Syrian refugees in Lebanon into voting, including Hezbollah, the Amal Movement, the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP), the Baath Party, the Association of Syrian Workers in Lebanon and others.

The pressure exerted by the aforementioned parties was carried out by instigation and intimidation. Refugee camps witnessed aid distribution campaigns with calls and slogans encouraging them to vote, while active and distinguished individuals known on the ground and trusted by refugees also participated in pushing people towards voting. At other times, pro-Assad parties intimidated refugees by threatening to burn down their camps or evict, kidnap, or inflict physical harm on them.

Activists in refugee camps are contacted and told to distribute forms to be filled by inhabitants of Syrian camps in Lebanon, Mohammed said. Activists are chosen for this task because they are allowed to move freely between camps, whether to distribute aid or to deliver awareness sessions on any subject, such as on the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, to pass voting forms through the sessions.

“They gave me a form to fill out, but I refused, and then they started threatening me on the phone. Now I’m afraid to get out of my area, but I’m not changing my position,” the activist told Enab Baladi.

Source: Enab Baladi site

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