LEBANON – APRIL, 2024 Muhammad Imad Al-Khalaf was a Syrian citizen who, along with four other men, was kidnapped by an armed group in Lebanon, where he fled the war. They demanded a ransom of $25,000 for them. The four men were lucky because they were gradually released during their captivity, but Al-Khalaf was not.
Videos of Al-Khalaf being brutally tortured gradually began to leak onto the internet. The kidnappers thus wanted to put more pressure into their ransom demand. In one video, Al-Khalaf is suspended from the ceiling and beaten with a belt. In another, he is chained to a metal railing and given painful electric shocks. But no one paid the ransom and he died in captivity.
Syrian refugees are often considered second-class citizens in Lebanon. There, they are subjected to violence, humiliation and other such acts. This incident sparked discussions on the security of refugees in Lebanon, yet nothing has changed since then. The Lebanese still do not like refugees and society treats them with contempt.