Lower thirds:

00:02 Report by Sara Hteit
00:25 Um Alaa | Syrian refugee
01:24 Ivo Freijsen | UNHCR Representative
02:41 Maher Murad | Landowner
03:23 Hind Qabawat | Syrian Minister of Social Affairs and Labor
03:49 Um Alaa | Syrian refugee

Script:

00:01
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Um Alaa and her children had a farm, back in Syria. Now they harvest what they can from the rubbish. They start early, and aim to find and sell ten kilos of plastic and metal. That’s enough to buy them food for the day. Here in Lebanon it’s the only way for them to survive.

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00:22
+++Malaika Al-Jassem – Um Alaa/ Syrian Refugee 
Never in my life did I imagine I would end up here. But one day, I needed bread — and we had nothing. I needed to feed my family, but there was no food for me or the children. 
So I thought… maybe I could go out and collect garbage”. 

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00:35
Um Alaa lives with her eight children in a tent on the edge of Gaza Camp in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. 
She left home in Syria more than ten years ago to escape the Assad regime. She has not been back, Not even now the Assad regime is gone.  
She says returning is not an option. 

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00:54
Interview – Um Alaa (speaking to Sara): 
"This is our tent ((my tent. My children live here with me.)) We have drinking water. I can manage the children’s needs, and when I ask for help, someone helps me. 
But over there, ((what is there))? If I go back, even though the regime is gone, my house is in ruins. 

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01:06
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has long been a lifeline for thousands of Syrian families like Um Alaa’s in Lebanon. 
But cuts in US funding for the agency meant 65% percent of the families it helped now get nothing. 

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01:22
+++ Ivo Freijsen, UNHCR Representative in Lebanon:  
“So we are increasingly forced to tell Syrians who came ten, 12 years ago, sorry  we are no longer have the money to give you the same assistance. 

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01:32
Instead, UNHCR is now working with Lebanese authorities and offering small cash grants to those who choose to go back.

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01:42
+++ Ivo Freijsen UNHCR Representative in Lebanon: 
“There will be small cash grants to facilitate return, and then we hope to see much more assistance and better conditions inside Syria”.  

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01:52
During the six months leading up to May 2025, nearly 143,000 Syrian refugees left Lebanon to go home.
And yet in the same period, the UNHCR says around 100,000 NEW Syrian refugees have arrived - either fleeing because they were loyal to the toppled regime, or to avoid deteriorating security conditions. 

And while some Lebanese view the refugee presence as a strain on the economy 
Others say the country still depends on them for manual labour.

Maher Murad, a landowner in the Bekaa Valley, warns that he could lose up to 70% of his farm workers if all the Syrians were to return home. 

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02:37
+++ Maher Murad landowner in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley 
“All the workers here are Syrian not a single Lebanese. The problem is, if you do find a Lebanese worker, you’ll have to pay a lot more and honestly, it’s nearly impossible. 
Most Lebanese have emigrated, and none of them know farming like the Syrians do”. 

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02:57
Inside Syria, there are signs of change. With sanctions lifted, reconstruction may begin. 
 But some areas are over 70% destroyed. And for millions of the displaced, going back means facing the unknown. The government is offering temporary solutions, but there's still no clear overall plan. 

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03:19
+++ Hind Qabawat, Minister of Social Affairs and Labor in the new Syrian government 
"Right now, we can offer emergency solutions, like temporary shelters or mobile housing until we start the reconstruction.  
But rebuilding Syria isn’t the government’s job alone. We are the government, yes, but you are the people. This needs to be a joint effort. 

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03:37
After more than a decade in Lebanon, Um Alaa says her only barrier to going home… is having nothing to return to.

03:47
+++ Um Alaa/ Syrian refugee 
If I had ((even just)) enough money ((to cover) for the trip and ((to rent)) a small room ((for my children and me)), just enough to buy bread each day,  I would have already left . +++