As part of the Lebanese government’s repatriation plan, Lebanon will temporarily open its land borders with Syria to allow Lebanese nationals to return home, the Lebanese General Security announced.
On Tuesday, June 2nd, the General Directorate of the Lebanese General Security said:
“According to the decisions of the Council of Ministers on 31/3/2020, related to the return of Lebanese expatriates from abroad, the land borders with Syria will be opened via the Masnaa and Abboudieh border crossings.”
This will take place on June 2nd and June 4th from 9 AM until 4 PM, strictly for the Lebanese and their family members (a son/daughter of a Lebanese, a Lebanese husband, or a Lebanese wife) who are in Syria and wish to return to Lebanon.
At the time when the Lebanese General Security made the announcement, the borders were already opened and receiving arrivals.
The Ministry of Public Health has assigned a medical and nursing team to accompany security forces and perform the necessary PCR tests for the arrivals to ensure that none carry COVID-19, the National News Agency reported.
Moreover, the team is tasked with collecting the phone numbers and required personal information of the repatriates, as well as the locations of their supposed preventive quarantine.
Guided by the Health Ministry’s employees, the arrivals will accordingly commit to quarantine for a period of 14 days, according to the mechanism adopted at the land, air, and maritime border crossings, the NNA said.
The medical professionals will also inform the repatriates of the obligation of committing to the common preventive health measures such as wearing face masks and committing to social distancing, to limit the spread of the viral disease.
This step represents the 5th stage of the land crossings of Lebanese citizens from Syria and follows the official plan previously laid out by the government.
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