Lebanon’s
prime minister al-Hariri stated that his country urgently needed more
international help in order to provide for the 1,5 million Syrian refugees that
are currently living there.
Almost seven
years into the Syrian conflict the number
of refugees continue to be a major cause for concern for the region and the
international community. More than 5
million Syrians have fled the country and are living in camps across the
region, with around 3 million Syrian refugees living in camps in Turkey, 1,5
million in Lebanon and the remainder living in Jordan, (southern) Iraq and
Egypt or moving even further away in an attempt to reach Europe and the US.
Adding to
this, around 6 million Syrians are
currently displaced inside Syria, living in areas under control of the
different factions . This number is truly astounding when the population of
Syria had been estimated to around 17 million people in 2014. This would mean
that almost two-thirds(!) of the
Syrian population are currently (in)directly forcibly displaced by the ongoing
conflict.
Hosting and
providing for the refugees in Lebanon hasn’t been an easy task. Lebanon has
been trying to deal with a slowing economic growth and numerous other domestic problems, but at the moment
the population of Lebanon has increased by twenty-five percent only through the
refugee influx, which has put a tremendous strain on available resources and
services. Although the situation hasn’t gotten out of hand up until now, the
atmosphere is definitely changing.
Lebanese people are growing tired of the continuous presence of Syrians in the streets, looking to sell anything they can or offering themselves for low-paying labour jobs. They also believe that the government is currently doing more for them than their own people. This could potentially become a very dangerous situation when the necessary international aid does not arrive in the needed quantities to start supporting the Lebanese government and relieve the tension in its society. An example of this is when a short while ago two separate incidents occurred in the camps where fires broke out and dozens of tents, along with all the people’s belongings went up in flames. Several people, among which children, were severely injured. The incidents were classified as unfortunate accidents due to a technical malfunction of hardware. Thanks to humanitarian organisations operating in the country efforts were made to rebuild the necessary number of tents to help the people affected by the disaster.
Lebanese people are growing tired of the continuous presence of Syrians in the streets, looking to sell anything they can or offering themselves for low-paying labour jobs. They also believe that the government is currently doing more for them than their own people. This could potentially become a very dangerous situation when the necessary international aid does not arrive in the needed quantities to start supporting the Lebanese government and relieve the tension in its society. An example of this is when a short while ago two separate incidents occurred in the camps where fires broke out and dozens of tents, along with all the people’s belongings went up in flames. Several people, among which children, were severely injured. The incidents were classified as unfortunate accidents due to a technical malfunction of hardware. Thanks to humanitarian organisations operating in the country efforts were made to rebuild the necessary number of tents to help the people affected by the disaster.
People
could easily start taking matters into their own hands when the situation is
not properly addressed by the Lebanese government and the international
community. Targeted assaults, forced entry into the camps and arson are only a
few things that come to mind of what could happen… What is even worse, an
escalation or lack of initiative could reignite the sectarian violence that has
cast a shadow over the country’s recent history and to this day hasn’t been
truly settled.
When Lebanon was under colonial rule after the Great War, the Maronite Christian
community had a strong working relationship with the French and gradually
became the dominant faction in politics after its independence in the 1940s. During
the Cold War several Arab groups were inspired by the ideas of socialism and
pan-Arab ideologies which led to an increasing polarized society. When clashes
broke out in 1975 these Arab groups were (in-directly supported by the
Soviet-Union(’s allies in the region) while the Christian communities were
supported leaned towards the West. It didn’t take long before Syria and Israel
joined the fray and the US (as part of their Cold War’s containment
policy) became indirectly involved.
In the
1980s Israel invaded Lebanon to stamp out insurgents that were attacking from
there and an international force had to be sent to intervene. It was only in
1990 that hostilities officially came to an end through the Taif Agreement but
to this day tensions are high, clashes are frequent in several parts of the
country between communities and parts of the Taif Agreement haven’t been
implemented or followed.
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