BEIRUT – The United Nations refugee agency said on Tuesday that more than 21,000 people had fled sectarian violence in Syria this month for safety in neighboring Lebanon.
“The hostilities… in early March continue to displace people on a steady daily basis” into northern Lebanon, the UNHCR statement said, reporting “21,637 new arrivals from Syria” citing figures provided by Lebanese authorities and the Lebanese Red Cross.
For days, starting on March 6, Syria’s Mediterranean coast was gripped by extreme violence, including sectarian mass killings, mainly targeting members of the Alawite minority.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said some 1,600 civilians, mostly Alawites, were killed, accusing security forces and allied groups of participating in “field executions, forced displacement and burning of homes.”
The Syrian authorities have accused armed Assad supporters of starting the violence by staging attacks on the new security forces.
The UNHCR statement said that “fleeing families are continuing to cross unofficial border crossing points including through rivers on foot, and are arriving exhausted, traumatized, and hungry.”
It noted “ongoing reports of insecurity hampering people’s movements before they reach Lebanon.”
Some 390 Lebanese families were included in the new arrival figures, the agency added.
AN-AFP, 25.3.2025
