Artifacts Repatriated and put back into Danger

"We send them back to be destroyed"

In the article "Two Suspects Arrested for Smuggling Relics from Syria into Lebanon" (SyndiGate.info February 3, 2018), we are shocked to read:

Trafficked archaeological objects intercepted by security forces have filled warehouses in Beirut as conflicts in Syria and Iraq have raged on. But now many of those same storage rooms lie empty as Lebanon became the first country in the region to repatriate the looted artifacts to their countries of origin.

and:

Each retrieved piece is examined by the DGA to determine where it came from. A list of objects is then submitted to the country of origin and, upon its request, a plan for repatriation is agreed upon. “If the competent authorities [in the country of origin] send us a repatriation request, we must comply with it,” Anne-Marie Afeiche, Director of the National Museum of Beirut, said in January 2017. “These objects are part of the cultural heritage of that country and we are responsible for their safety only as long as they are on Lebanese soil.”

It seems the notion of providing a safe haven for the cultural property of all mankind is a foreign one to her. Sending them back to war-torn Syria is the last thing they should be doing.