Refugee Protection Watch (RPW)

The RPW coalition conducts research and advocacy on protection issues and living conditions for Syrians and host communities in Lebanon, and on the conditions for safe, voluntary, informed and dignified return to Syria.

The coalition was formed in 2019 by ALEF – Act for Human Rights, Basmeh and Zeitooneh, PAX, Upinion, and 11.11.11. Since 2022, Women Now for Development, Access Center for Human Rights and the Lebanese Center for Human Rights (CLDH) have joined the coalition. RPW utilises the knowledge and strengths of Lebanese, Syrian and European organisations, each working in the human rights, peacebuilding, development and humanitarian fields. The coalition’s research and reports aim to tackle the information gap that currently exists on protection and return dynamics in the context of the Syrian forced displacement crisis. RPW uses ongoing conversations with respondents to provide detailed, long-term and reliable information. The coalition specifically seeks to enhance clarity on how Syrian refugees (including Palestinian Syrians) and host communities themselves assess the protection situation and living conditions in Lebanon, the motivations and processes behind individual decision-making processes, and the reality of experiences on return to Syria.

RPW’s main analytical framework for research is the Protection Thresholds and Parameters for Refugee return to Syria” (UNHCR Protection Thresholds), which were published by the UNHCR in February 2018.5 The UNHCR Protection Thresholds – the importance of which have been repeatedly reiterated during the Brussels Conferences on the Future of Syria and the Region6 – are the internationally accepted standard to assess whether conditions for a safe, voluntary, informed and dignified return of Syrian refugees to Syria are met.

RPW conducts research and advocacy

Since 2019, RPW has conducted research and advocacy on protection issues facing Syrian refugees in Lebanon, as well as on the conditions for safe, voluntary, informed and dignified return to Syria. As such, the coalition aims to tackle the information gap that currently exists on protection and return dynamics that Syrian refugees in Lebanon face. By taking a longitudinal approach to its research, RPW aims to contribute to a more detailed, long-term and reliable information landscape, complementing the information that is already available. More specifically, RPW aims to provide more clarity on how Syrian refugees and host communities themselves assess their protection situation and living conditions in Lebanon, what their individual decision-making processes on return look like, and what happens to Syrian refugees once they have returned to Syria. 

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RPW priorities

RPW aims to bridge the gap between the needs and protection issues that refugees from Syria and returnees face, and the policies and international developments that aim to address these. As such, we’ve identified a number of priorities our advocacy currently focuses on:

  • Returns of Syrian refugees are safe, voluntary, dignified, & informed.
  • The design of returns, recovery, reconstruction policies and implementation reflect the needs of the demographic diversity of Syrian refugees. 
  • Humanitarian and protection spaces for Syrian refugees and civil society in Lebanon are upheld.
  • Syrian refugees meaningfully participate and shape international policy dialogues and debates.