May 11, 2011.

Lawyer and human rights activist Nabil Halabi told NOW Lebanon’s Aline Sara in an exclusive interview on Wednesday that an estimated 300 Syrian families have crossed into Lebanon from Syria, mostly from Banis, the coastal town of Jabla, Homs’ neighborhood of Bab Amr, and the town of Tal Kalkalkh.

"Bab Amr [is experiencing] heavy bombardment. [The town’s] mall has been heavily bombed and almost completely destroyed by Syrian security forces,” Halabi said.

Halabi, who is in Wadi Khaled, said Syrian refugees have been crossing the borders for more than 20 days.

"These families are threatened by Syrian intelligence officers.”

Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) Intelligence officers have been informing the Syrians that their status is as "refugees”, Halabi said, adding that they have been told that they do not have legal papers.

"They were also warned of the consequences if they speak to the press.”

He added that he has not seen any LAF representative attempting to send the refugees back to Syria.

"[Syrian refugees] will probably stay in the North and avoid coming near Beirut, which is very dangerous for them because there are Hizbollah militiamen,” said Halabi.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime has been rocked by unprecedented protests since mid-March.

Rights groups say more than 600 people were killed and 8,000 jailed or gone missing in the crackdown on Syrian protesters since mid-March. The Committee of the Martyrs of the 15 March Revolution puts the death toll at 708.

-NOW Lebanon