Press Releases

This Protection Sector Analysis Report by the Protection Working Group covers the recent developments in Lebanon, focusing on the period following the ceasefire announcement in Lebanon on 27 November 2024 and the cross-border displacement of Syrians following the fall of the Assad government in Syria.

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has inflicted widespread sexual violence on women and girls throughout Sudan’s two-year civil war to humiliate, assert control and displace communities across the country. The RSF’s atrocities, including rape, gang-rape and sexual slavery, amount to war crimes and possible crimes against humanity, Amnesty International said in a new report.

This report provides information on incidents of gender-based violence (GBV) reported by 14 data gathering organizations providing services to GBV survivors between January to December 2024.

Since 18 March 2025, the Fataki health zone, located 85 km north of Bunia in Djugu territory, and adjacent areas have been facing a rapid deterioration in security, marked by intense clashes between an armed group (CODECO) and Ugandan army troops (UPDF) deployed in Ituri province.

Nearly two years of conflict in Sudan have triggered the world’s largest displacement crisis. This spotlight focuses on the daily lives of some displaced and pregnant women in Darfur, who face abhorrent living conditions with their families.

Against the backdrop of 16 months of active hostilities and a fragile situation in Gaza, protection actors note a steady deterioration of the protection environment in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

In 2025, children in Lebanon are bearing the profound toll of the conflict that escalated across the country in 2024. A new UNICEF report exposes the deterioration of key support systems for children — such as safe learning environments, and access to healthcare, nutrition, and clean water — leading to heightened risks of exploitation, barriers to processing emotional trauma, and significant challenges to their cognitive and social development.

Oxfam has released a briefing paper Palestinian Women Working in Illegal Israeli Settlements: Dependencies, Exploitation, and Opportunity Costs, shedding light on the harrowing daily realities faced by many vulnerable Palestinian women employed in exploitative and harsh conditions in illegal Israeli settlements, where their rights are being systematically violated.

In 2024, Syrian children continued to endure the effects of the ongoing conflict, economic collapse, and displacement, culminating in the fall of the government on 8 December. The humanitarian situation remains fluid and unpredictable.

The security situation in Syria remained volatile with sporadic security escalations. Hostilities continues to impact Northeast Syria (NES), particularly in eastern Aleppo and around the Tishreen Dam, as well as in Al-Hasakeh and ArRaqqa governorates.

On 18 February, the Israel Army withdrew from remaining population centres in southern Lebanon, while maintaining presence in five strategic positions along the Blue Line. The Lebanese Armed Forces deployed into vacated areas, supporting population returns.

918,769 people displaced within Lebanon back in their cadaster of origin while 115,234 people remain displaced outside their cadaster of origin as of 12 February.

After a 15-months devastating war, the humanitarian situation remains catastrophic in the Gaza Strip. Most children have lost access to quality healthcare, education, water and other vital services.

ع.ش، ضابط سوري منشق. وكان يخدم في قوات المخابرات السورية قبل ذهابه إلى لبنان عام 2014.

وبعد سنوات، سجل لدى المفوضية السامية للأمم المتحدة لشؤون اللاجئين كطالب لجوء. وفي عام 2021 تزوج من سيدة لبنانية.

وفي 25 أيلول 2023، زار فرع الأمن العام في دير عمار شمال لبنان لتجديد إقامته. تم اعتقاله ثم إرساله إلى سراي طرابلس ومن ثم إلى المديرية العامة للأمن العام في بيروت.

وعندما حاول محامي عائلته الاستفسار عن قضيته رفض معلومات الأمن العام الكشف عن أي معلومات عن سبب اعتقاله.

في 10 تشرين الأول 2023، زارته عائلته ولكن عندما غادروا اتصل بعائلته وأخبرهم أن اسمه مدرج على قائمة المبعدين قسراً.

وبناء على هذه المعلومات...

A.S, is a Syrian defected officer. He was serving with Syrian Intelligence forces before he fled to Lebanon in 2014.

Years later, he registered with UNHCR as asylum seeker. In 2021, he married from a Lebanese lady.

On 25 September 2023, he visited the General Security Branch in Deir Ammar, north of Lebanon in order to renew his residency. He was arrested and then sent to Serail Tripoli (Court) and then to the General Directorate of General Security in Beirut.

When his family's lawyer tried to inquire about his case the Information department of the General Security rejected to disclose any...

خلفية

قضية م.ع

م.ع هو مواطن سوري الجنسية، طالب لجوء. في 22 أيلول 2023، اعتقله عناصر من جهاز أمن الدولة اللبنانية من منزله في مخيم الرحمة في البقاع شرق لبنان. واتهم بمخالفة قواعد الإقامة في لبنان.

بتاريخ 3 تشرين الأول 2023، صدر حكم عن محكمة جنايات زحلة بتغريمه عشرين مليون ليرة لبنانية بالإضافة إلى ترحيله إلى سوريا. بتاريخ 6 تشرين الأول 2023، نُقل إلى الأمن العام في زحلة.

ويخشى أن يتم ترحيله إلى سوريا حيث قد يتم القبض عليه تعسفياً ويتعرض للتعذيب.

قضية ع.أ

ع.أ هو مواطن سوري دخل لبنان عام 2011، هرب من سوريا خوفاً من الاعتقال من قبل السلطات السورية حيث تم اعتقال والده وشقيقه منذ ذلك الحين. توفي والده في...

Background

The case of M.A

M. A, is a Syrian seeker asylum. On 22 September 2023, he was arrested by the Lebanese State Security Forces from his home in Al Rahma Camp in Bekaa, east of Lebanon. He was accused of violating the rules of residency in Lebanon.

On 3 October 2023, a sentence was issued by the Criminal Court of Zahle which fined him with twenty millions of Lebanese Lira in addition to deportation to Syria. On 6 October 2023, he was transferred to General Security in Zahle.

He fears to be deported to Syria where he might be arrested arbitrarily and subjected to torture.

The case of A.A

A.A...

On 26 December 2022, Cedar Centre joined several local and international civil society organisations in seizing the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (SPT) and relevant UN Special Procedure mandate holders with a call for urgent action concerning the situation in Roumieh prison and other Lebanese detention centres

عمِلَت وزارة العمل بشكل غير علني وبالتعاون مع أصحاب مكاتب استقدام العاملات في الخدمة المنزلية على مسودّة عقد العمل الموحَّد الخاص بتنظيم العمل المنزلي للعاملات المهاجرات في لبنان، مستبعدين من النقاشات العاملات والجمعيات المختصّة المعنية. بعد الاطّلاع على المسودة، نعتبر أنّ هذه الخطوة هي سقطة موصوفة، تنتهك حقوق الإنسان البديهية لصالح حفنة من أصحاب المصالح المادية و”التجّار“ المتمثّلين بمكاتب استقدام العاملات المهاجرات إلى لبنان.

The Ministry of Labor has worked covertly, in coordination with owners of recruitment agencies, on a draft Standard Unified Contract and has excluded from the discussions the domestic workers and the NGOs who have a long experience in this context. After reviewing the latest draft, we consider the contract to be an absolute scandal that audaciously violates basic human rights in favor of the vested interests of a handful of “traders” embodied by the recruitment agencies in Lebanon.