DAMASCUS, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Over 500 Syrian refugees returned Wednesday from Lebanon to Syria as they are set to return to their homes in the southwestern countryside of Damascus, state news agency SANA reported.

Buses transporting the refugees from the town of Shebaa south of Lebanon crossed the Jdaidet Yabous border point into Syria on Wednesday evening.

Those people will return to their homes in the Beit Jinn town in the southwestern countryside of Damascus after the rebels withdrew from that area last December.

The return of Syrian refugees from Lebanon to Syria has been discussed between both governments.

In January, Syria's Minister of Reconciliation Ali Haidar said that Syria was preparing for the return of refugees from Lebanon.

As of October 2016, Lebanon hosted 1.5 million Syrian refugees, including 1 million registered with UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), half of them children below 18 years old, along with 31,502 Palestinian Refugees from Syria, according to the Lebanese government.

In October of 2017, Lebanese President Michel Aoun said his country could no longer handle vast numbers of Syrian refugees, urging world powers to help the refugees return to the calmer parts of their country.