Conflict Incident Report

Thirty undocumented Syrian refugees in the informal Deir al-Ahmar refugee encampment were detained by the Lebanese Army, a security source confirmed to The Daily Star.

"There is fear across Deir al-Ahmar," said a displaced Syrian at the encampment, who spoke to The Daily Star on the condition of anonymity. "They came in at around 5 a.m. and woke everyone up."

"I already had my papers renewed," the Syrian national, originally from Idlib, added. "They ordered me to stay indoors and not leave at all."

He said that whoever had questioned or spoke back were beaten by the army, adding that women and children were reprimanded at as well.

Some whom the Lebanese Army tried to apprehend ran away.

"They tried to arrest people before they could get out of bed, but a few managed to run away," he said.

The security source said that routine inspections and raids often take place in informal refugee camps from different branches of Lebanon's security forces and the army, "especially in eastern Lebanon in the Bekaa (Valley) and Baalbeck."

"General Security is involved when it comes to illegal border-crossing and the army usually gets involved when there is a matter of weapons smuggling and so on," the source added. "[General Security is] responsible for anything involved with foreign nationals on Lebanese territory."

An Akkar mayor in the northeast town of Minyara Tony Abboud had said Tuesday that he intended to go through with the eviction of Syrian refugees from his municipality following an ultimatum he had issued, alleging a lack of support from humanitarian organizations.