Fire destroys Syrian refugee camp in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley

Blaze sweeps through Bar Elias camp

All 59 tents housing 75 families at a Syrian refugee camp in eastern Lebanon were destroyed on Saturday when a fire swept through the site, witnesses said. The blaze broke out at the camp in Bar Elias, a town in the Zahle district of the Bekaa Valley, where about 486 people were living, a correspondent reported.

The entire camp was destroyed, leaving hundreds of Syrian refugees without shelter. No injuries were reported, and Lebanese authorities had not commented on the cause of the blaze.

Syrian refugee population in Lebanon

Lebanon has hosted large numbers of Syrian refugees since the conflict in Syria began in 2011. In January, Lebanese authorities estimated the Syrian refugee population at about 1.5 million, including nearly 880,000 registered with the UN refugee agency.

Voluntary return program

The Lebanese government launched a voluntary return program in June 2025 as part of broader efforts to facilitate the return of Syrian refugees to their country. More than 500,000 Syrian refugees were confirmed or believed to have returned from Lebanon by the end of 2025, according to the annual report of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Nearly 240,300 of those returns were assessed as voluntary.