Beirut, Lebanon—The Lebanese and Syrian governments have reached an agreement to repatriate nearly 300 Syrian prisoners held in Lebanese prisons to their home country, a move that could pave the way for better relations between the two neighbours.

The issue of Syrian prisoners in Lebanon has been a priority for Damascus since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024. Relations between the two countries have long been marked by what many Lebanese describe as a nearly 30-year occupation and a tutelage rule over Lebanon by Syria, which ended in 2005 after Syria withdrew its troops.

About 2,400 Syrian prisoners are currently held in Lebanese prisons. Some have been arrested on charges of “terrorism”, while others have been arrested for being linked to attacks against the Lebanese Army. But despite spending years in prison, most were never prosecuted, largely due to a myriad of issues, including political deadlock, judicial strikes and general political apathy.

And while Friday’s agreement may signal the beginning of a new relationship between Syria and Lebanon – one based on mutual respect rather than Syria’s direct or indirect control over the small state on its western border – it did not come without some public controversy.

In Syrian eyes, many prisoners are being held for political rather than judicial reasons. The government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa believes they are mostly in prison because of the influence of the former al-Assad regime and its Hezbollah allies in Lebanon.

But for many Lebanese, no one accused of attacks against the Lebanese Armed Forces should be released.

“Lebanon has long insisted that no Syrians or others accused of committing serious crimes against the Lebanese army should be extradited,” David Wood, senior Lebanon analyst at the International Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera. “This has been a major obstacle to resolving this prisoner settlement so far.”

political prisoners?

Lebanese–Syrian relations have long been complex. Under Syrian President Hafez al-Assad and later his son Bashar, Syrian forces controlled Lebanon from 1976 to 2005.

Even after Syrian troops withdrew from Lebanon, Syria maintained influence over the country through its allies, including the political and military group Hezbollah.

When the 2011 Syrian uprising began and was subsequently suppressed by the regime of Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s border with Lebanon soon became a hotspot for the transport of people – both fighters and refugees – as well as weapons and medicines.

The Syrian war had a deep impact on Lebanon. This escalated into clashes in the northern city of Tripoli; the Battle of Abra, which included flamboyant anti-Assad Sheikh Ahmed al-Assir and Lebanese-Palestinian pop star Fadel Shaker; fighting with Hezbollah and the Lebanese Army on one side and ISIL (ISIS) and al-Qaeda-aligned groups on the other; and attacks on the southern suburbs of Beirut.

In the intervening years, hundreds of Syrians have been arrested by Lebanese authorities and held in Lebanon’s overcrowded prisons.

When the al-Assad regime fell, the new Syrian government considered reshaping relations with Lebanon, expressing interest in building relations based on mutual respect and interests.

Damascus’ priorities included highlighting their common border and economic and security cooperation. But it also prioritised the return of Syrians held in Lebanese prisons.

“Damascus’s allegation is that in many cases this is the reason [imprisonment] This is political and particularly due to alleged links between prisoners and groups that were opposed to the former regime of Bashar al-Assad. Wood said. In his view, “In fact, it was Assad’s Lebanese allies who conspired to ensure that these people were imprisoned in Lebanon.”

According to that logic, Israel’s 2024 war on Lebanon followed by the fall of al-Assad and the weakening of Hezbollah meant that these prisoners should be released.

Some Lebanese disagree and view the issue as a grey area. Despite the fact that the Syrian prisoners engaged in combat with Hezbollah, their actions occurred during a period when the Shia group was collaborating with the Lebanese army, an action that many Lebanese consider unacceptable.

an important step

On Friday, the agreement was signed with several Lebanese ministers, including Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitry and the justice ministers of both countries.

“This is a very important first step towards comprehensive treatment regarding Syrian prisoners in Lebanese prisons,” Mitri told reporters on Friday.

Syrian Justice Minister Mazhar al-Wais said: “This step will enhance the existing trust and we hope that relations will grow further.”

The agreement reportedly stipulates that over the next three months, approximately 300 prisoners will be sent back to Syria and those serving sentences for serious crimes such as rape or murder, for example, will have to serve 10 or more years in Lebanese prisons to be eligible for repatriation.

Lebanese prisoners like al-Assir are not included in the deal.

But other issues remain. These include issues related to Lebanon’s pending judicial system and Lebanese prisoners in Syrian prisons.

Only 750 Syrian prisoners out of 2,400 have been convicted. This means that approximately 65 per cent of the prisoners are not yet eligible for repatriation.

Fadel Abdulghani of the Syrian Network for Human Rights described it as a “two-track” problem. On his personal website, Abdulghani said that the transfer of convicted prisoners with final sentences could be carried out in a “quick manner”.

However, for those who have not yet been convicted, the matter is not so straightforward. A mechanism for pre-trial detention has not yet been agreed upon by the relevant authorities.

“This is not just a Syrian issue but touches the structure of the Lebanese criminal justice system,” Abdulghani wrote. “Therefore, transferring the convicts will not solve the problem, as the root cause is the slow pace of procedures in Lebanon and the accumulation of detainees held without trial, as well as the ensuing issues related to the legality and continuity of their detention.”

He warned that such detainees could be used by Hezbollah as a political bargaining tool. Some members or supporters of the group blame these prisoners for car bombings or other such attacks on their villages. While many of those attacks were on Shia Muslim areas where support for Hezbollah is prominent, Christian villages such as al-Qa’a and Ras Baalbek in the Bekaa Valley were also subject to attacks.

‘There are no names.’

Marcel Baloukji, a former brigadier general who oversees the Lebanese army’s border committee with Syria, told Al Jazeera that the 300 or so prisoners to be transferred do not include many of the more hardened prisoners linked to ISIL or al-Qaeda who have been held by Lebanese authorities for years.

But Baloukji also pointed out that the issue of Lebanese prisoners held in Syrian prisons is still important to the Lebanese side. Under the al-Assad regime, more than 100,000 people were forcibly disappeared, including hundreds and potentially thousands of Lebanese, dating back to the Lebanese Civil War.

Mass graves have been found around Syria since the fall of the regime. However, a lot of work still remains to be done to identify all the bodies. So far, the vast majority have not been identified – neither Syrian nor Lebanese.

“There is still a problem because there is an exchange between Lebanon and Syria,” Baloukji said. “There’s no one there. Most of them have not been identified. There are no names.”