Every now and then, the Lebanese government or certain factions within it stir up tension against Syrian refugees living in the country. Some see this as an attempt to blackmail the international community to secure more financial support.
During her first visit to Lebanon on 2 May, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced an immediate provision of €1bn made up entirely of grants and to be dispersed by 2027.
Some Lebanese see this as a "bribe" to prevent refugees from travelling by boat to Cyprus, from where they would attempt to cross into Europe by sea. Lebanese Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati rejects this assertion.
To be sure, Lebanon—a country already in dire financial straits—is further strained by the large presence of Syrian refugees. Thirteen years into the Syrian refugee crisis, the Lebanese government still lacks accurate figures on the precise number of Syrians residing in the country, nor does it have a realistic or practical plan to alleviate this burden.
Mikati cites nearly two million refugees, while the Minister of Displaced Persons, Essam Sharaf al-Din, claims there are closer to three million. However, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Lebanon, represented by official spokesperson Dalal Harb, reports only 795,322 registered Syrian refugees, excluding those without refugee status.
Officials frequently cite these figures to score political points without offering concrete action plans to deal with the issue. They also fail to admit their roles in perpetuating the problem.
A year ago, following a visit to Damascus, Sharaf al-Din drafted a plan to repatriate 15,000 Syrians to Syria each month. He secured the cooperation of Syrian authorities, who said they could take in even greater numbers. Now, he has added an initiative for 5,000 Syrians a month to legally emigrate to the United States or Canada.
Inflammatory claims
Sharaf al-Din recently claimed there were 20,000 armed Syrians in refugee camps in Lebanon. Luckily, the claim was recognised as pure fiction and elicited little response in the media, apart from some sensationalist media outlets. If such a claim were even remotely true, security agencies would surely respond to such menacing threats.
On the anniversary of the Syrian army's withdrawal from Lebanon (26 April 2005), Member of Parliament Ziad Hawat, from the Lebanese Forces bloc, posted on X: "Just as we liberated Lebanon and achieved the Syrian military withdrawal 19 years ago, today we are working toward ridding the country of the presence of illegal Syrian refugees and their threat to our existence. And we will succeed."
Equating refugees to military occupiers is another glaring example of inflammatory rhetoric. Interestingly enough, even the most vocal opponents of Hezbollah no longer talk about its role in displacing and killing Syrians in the first place and instead turn their ire on the refugees themselves.
The Syrian refugee issue is becoming an increasingly explosive issue in Lebanon. An urgent and practical plan is needed to manage, organise and alleviate the burden posed by these refugees in a manner consistent with international law and human rights.
