Syrian refugees in Lebanon pressured to vote, says UNHCR 1 minute read
Beirut, May 20 (EFE).- Syrian refugees in Lebanon have been pressured to cast their vote abroad in the upcoming presidential elections, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reported Thursday.
“UNHCR has received reports of incidents involving pressure, threats and harassment affecting Syrian refugees in Lebanon and in relation to the Syrian presidential elections,” Lisa Abou Khaled, a UNHCR spokeswoman in Beirut, told Efe.
She said the reported incidents ranged from confiscation of documents to threats of physical harm.
The UN watchdog is monitoring the situation, according to Abou Khaled, in order to ensure that “refugees are free to decide whether or not to vote, without pressure or reprisals.”
Lebanese attack Syrians heading to vote at their embassy panorama.am - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from panorama.am Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Lebanese Protesters Call for Syrian Refugees to Return Home as They Cast Election Ballots
On 5/20/21 at 10:06 AM EDT
Lebanese protesters attacked Syrian refugees and demanded they go home, believing them to be an organized voting bloc for President Bashar al-Assad.
Mobs of mostly Christian right-wing Lebanese Forces groups threw sticks and stones at cars and buses carrying Syrians on their way to vote at the Syrian Embassy in Beirut. If they want to vote, they can go home and vote there, Lebanese protester Fadi Nader said. Since they love Bashar Assad, why don t they go home? Assad is running for his fourth seven-year term in a countrywide vote expected to occur next week.
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Syrian citizens who live in Lebanon, queue outside their embassy to cast their ballots for their country s presidential election at the Syrian embassy in Yarze, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, May 20, 2021. The expat ballot started in embassies abroad ahead of Syria s May 26 presidential election.
Hussein Malla
Members of the Christian rightwing Lebanese Forces group attack a bus carrying Syrian voters heading their embassy to vote in the Syrian presidential elections in the town of Zouk Mosbeh, north of Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, May 20, 2021. Mobs of angry Lebanese men attacked vehicles carrying Syrians expatriates and those who fled the war heading to the Syrian embassy in Beirut on Thursday, protesting against what they said was an organized vote for President Bashar Assad.
Nu börjar röstningen i det syriska presidentvalet - i Sverige Fördel envåldshärskaren dn.se - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dn.se Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.