Feature: 5 years on, Syrian refugees in Lebanon see some hope of return

For nearly five years, Syrian refugees have endured in Lebanon unimaginable difficulties, now as the UN-sponsored truce are in place, they hope they can soon return to their homes in peace.

Khaled al-Abdallah, who suffers from cancer, expressed his hope to return to his home city of Homs that he was forced to abandon five years ago, and rebuild his home and practice his favorite hobby of hunting despite his sickness.

"The situation in Syria is improving and we will all go back to Syria and would only have the memories of those five years of agony we lived in Lebanon," he told Xinhua.

He explained that in the randomly erected camp where he lives in the northern Akkar district, every kind of infrastructure is missing "no sewage, no drinking water, no electricity and above all no aid agency is taking care of about 450 refugees mostly women and children."

Khaled was a mechanic in Syria but "two years ago was diagnosed with cancer and had to leave the workshop where I was working in Akkar since my displacement. I used to earn 10 U.S. dollars per day and that was helping me, my wife and my five children survive."

Mohammad al-Jeaidy, another refugee, said "our life here is like a prisoner's. We cannot get out of the camp looking for a job as most of us have no residency in Lebanon and could be arrested by the local authorities."

Speaking of the on-going truce, he seemed to be not that confident.

He told Xinhua "I live with my three children for four years and every year the hope of getting back to Syria diminishes. Nothing seems to be getting better despite the truce that I think is only a warrior's time-out because the good intentions to find a political solution to the crisis are not there."

Al-Jeaidy added that their fellow refugees are fed up over the years about efforts and initiatives to end the war... Yet not much has improved.

"We are certain that our stay in Lebanon would last longer," he said.

The conditions of Syrian refugees in Lebanon worsen day after day due to the lack of international aid to meet their basic needs. They spent all of their savings and they cannot legally work in Lebanon, thus, their financial situations are difficult and many of them are forced to send their children to work instead of sending them to school.

According to the United Nations Higher Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), Lebanon hosts nearly 1.1 million Syrians who fled their war-torn country since the uprising against the regime of President Bashar Assad erupted in March 2011.

More than 70 percent of Syrian refugees in Lebanon live below the poverty line as they must incur debt to be able to live, the agency reported in 2015.

Still, many refugees are still hopeful that they can return to their home country safely, where there could be in the future a smooth political transition to end the crisis. Endit