ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - About half of the Lebanese refugees who fled to Iraq late last year have returned home, the spokesperson for Baghdad’s migration and displaced ministry said on Saturday.
"The number of Lebanese returning to their country is more than 11,000, according to information from the residency department," Ali Abbas told Rudaw, adding that about the same number are still in the country.
“Those who left under the Iraqi guests' return program at the expense of the Iraqi government included about seven flights we sent to Beirut, carrying more than 1,200 Lebanese,” he said.
More than 20,000 Lebanese nationals sought refuge in Iraq after their towns and cities came under an Israeli offensive late last year.
Baghdad welcomed the refugees as “guests of Iraq.” A large majority of them stayed in the holy Shiite cities of Karbala and Najaf, where they were being aided by religious authorities in addition to the Iraqi government.
A late November ceasefire brokered by the United States between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah has allowed thousands of refugees to return home.
