Syrians in Lebanon

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Syrians in Lebanon
السوريون في لبنان
Total population
1,011,366 registered (December 2016)[1]

929,624 registered (July 2019)[2][1]

1.5 million (March 2024)[3]
Regions with significant populations
Beirut (Greater Beirut), Tripoli, Sidon, Baalbek
Languages
Arabic, Kurdish, Turkish
Religion
Islam and Christianity

Syrians in Lebanon (

Syrian Civil War, refugees began entering Lebanon in 2011.[6]

From the years of 2011–2016, there was an influx of over 1.5 million refugees from Syria to the neighboring country of Lebanon. Attempting to aid this number of people on top of Palestinian and Iraqi refugees from the past, created further economic and politic destruction for the country. Economically, Lebanon was overspending on the 1.5 million people who arrived since 2011. Politically, the Lebanese felt the need to choose a side in the Syrian war. In hopes to eliminate these issues, in 2016 the Lebanese government who has never had border laws created a border law banning people from entering the country without proper documentation (Gonzalez).

Lebanon's response towards the influx of refugees has been criticized as negative, with the Lebanese government leaving them undocumented and limited[7] and attacks on Syrian refugees by Lebanese citizens which go unaddressed by authorities.[8] Despite the strained relationship between the Syrians and Lebanese,[5] taking into consideration only Syrian refugees, Lebanon has the highest number of refugees per capita in the world, with one refugee per four nationals.[9] The power dynamic and position of Syria and Lebanon changed drastically in such a short amount of time, it is inevitable that sentiments and prejudices prevailed despite progressions and changes in circumstance.[10] In 2024, Lebanese leaders discussed Syrian migrant issues, considering repatriation and limiting numbers due to the escalating crisis.[11]

Background

While both Lebanon and Syria were under

French Mandate from 1923, following a period of uncertainty in the region.[13]

Demonstrations in Lebanon (2005) after the assassination of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on February pressuring Syria to leave Lebanon.

After both Lebanon and Syria gained independence from the French in the 1940s, they maintained their own autonomy (although Syria did not officially recognize Lebanon's independence until 2008[14]) until 1976 when Syria occupied Lebanon as part of the Arab Deterrent Force under the premise of resolving the dispute of the Lebanese civil war.[4] Although Taif Accord was signed in 1989, putting an official end to the civil war, Syrian forces remained in Lebanon. Syria's role in Lebanon changed over the years of the civil war from an intervention to an occupation.[5] After the Taif Accord was signed, Syrian forces remained in Lebanon under the justification of Israel's failure to withdraw, as per the accord.[15] AN estimated 35,000 (by the year 2000) Syrian troops remained in Lebanon.[16] The Syrian occupation of Lebanon lasted until 2005.[17] During the Syrian occupation, the government under Hafez al-Assad, extending to Bashar al-Assad after 2000, the Syrian government carried out infringements of human rights, including the detention of Lebanese citizens in Syrian-occupied Lebanon without trial and torturing them without rights for legal council.[18][19] In light of those who went missing during, what the Human Rights Watch described as, a "terror campaign" of censorship and fear inflicted on the Lebanese citizens,[20] a negative sentiment to develop within the Lebanese population against Syria.[21]

Following the end of the Syrian occupation, many Syrians have immigrated to Lebanon in search of work and better living standards. Movement between the two countries was relatively easy as an ID card was enough to cross the border.[22]

As a result of the

civil war in Syria commencing in 2011 between the government of President Bashar al‑Assad and rebel groups, refugees began entering Lebanon in large numbers, and quickly.[23] This sudden influx of refugees has resulted in the overpopulation of existing camps and cities as well a drain on resources.[24] This sudden and urgent circumstance led to tension between Lebanese citizens and Syrian refugees.[21] The Lebanese government did not make an attempt to account for these refugees; it instead blocked aid to them in a passive dissent to their immigration.[24] Border crossing restrictions were issued for Syrians crossing into Lebanon, which only led to the movement of asylum seekers shifting to illegal smuggling.[22]

Statistics

Distribution of Syrian refugees in Lebanon as of April 30, 2014

According to the UNHCR, there were over one million Syrian refugees who had been registered in Lebanon in 2016.[1] Nevertheless, this figure is likely largely underestimated since the UNHCR has stopped registering new Syrian refugees since May 2015, and it doesn't include individuals awaiting registration.[1] Hence, precise figures of the number of Syrian people in Lebanon don't exist currently. Recent estimates were as high as 1,500,000 people.[23]

As of 30 November 2018, the official distribution of registered refugees is as follows:[9]

UNHCR Official Population Distribution
Location Population % of total Population
Bekaa 340,592 35.8%
North Lebanon 247,802 26.1%
Beirut 247,713 26.1%
South Lebanon 114,227 12.0%

Of the registered refugees, 55.6% are under the age of 18.[9]

Along with Syrians, the influx of refugees due to the conflict includes 35,000 Lebanese returnees and 31,502 Palestinian refugees from Syria.[25]

Given the estimated population of Lebanon at 5.9 million, the 1.5 million Syrian refugees make Lebanon the country with the highest number of refugees per capita – with one refugee for every four nationals.[26] Syrian refugee statistics documented by the UNHCR were ordered to cease in 2015 by the Lebanese government, the reason behind this is uncertain.[27]

Most Syrian refugees rent apartments, partly due to the absence of formal refugee camps. More than 80% of them rent accommodation in 1700 locations countrywide at an average price of $200 a month. The rest of them – whose percentage keeps increasing due to the deepening vulnerability – had to settle in unfinished buildings, garages, abandoned sheds, work sites and tents in informal settlements.[28]

Chronology of the registration of Syrian refugees post 2011

The exact number of refugees is difficult to pin down, but national politicians have used the refugee question for electoral purposes, in particular in the context of the campaign for the general elections scheduled in 2018.

  • January 2014 – Prime Minister Najib Mikati declare that 900,000 “conflict refugees” came to Lebanon, “approaching a quarter of the population.”[29]
  • April 2014 – UNHCR states that Syrian refugees in Lebanon have passed the 1-million mark.[30]
  • May 2015 – UNHCR stops the registration of new refugees and asylum seekers. The peak number of 1.2 million then decreased to 1 million by 2017, as a share of officially registered refugees were resettled, departed or died.[31]
  • September 2015 – ⁣Gebran Bassil, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lebanon, referred to refugees as a burden, arguing that the one-million figure doesn’t account for all concerned: "it's 1.5 [million Syrians] plus 500,000 Palestinians so 45–50% of the population."[32]
  • October 2017: Esther Pinzari, UNHCR protection officer, explained Syrian refugees total 1 million in Lebanon. The Lebanese government, in the meantime, puts the number over 1.5 million, claiming that even that number is an understatement.[33]
  • November 2017: Major General Abbas Ibrahim, the head of General Security, states that the total number of refugees exceeds 2.5 million, including all nationalities.[34]

Naturalization and Syrians

Excessive restrictions were placed on

Syrian Sunnis and Christians) descent.[37] The purpose of these naturalization was to sway the elections to a pro-Syrian government.[38] This allegation is based on how these new citizens were bused in to vote and displayed higher voting rates than the nationals did.[37]

On June 1, 2018, the notoriously anti-naturalization

Ethnic groups

Although the majority of Syrians in Lebanon are Arabs (including

Palestinians

This group consists of descendants of Palestinian refugees who were displaced from Palestine during the

1947–1949 Palestine war to Syria, and then from Syria to Lebanon because of the Syrian civil war that started in 2011. These Palestinians have been met with favor from existing Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.[41] In January 2015, more Palestinians refugees were recorded to be in Syria than in Lebanon, including the already existing refugees preceding 2011,[42] although in light of the European Migrant Crisis, the numbers have allegedly dropped with many fleeing to Europe and a few to Lebanon.[43]

Turkmen

In October 2015, the Syrian independent newspaper Zaman Al Wasl reported that 125,000 to 150,000

Turkish minority of Lebanon.[44][45] Many of them settled in the small village of Kaweishra known for its Turkish identity.[46] The Turkish government has previously sent out food aid specifically for Turkmen refugees in Lebanon.[47]

In 2018 the number of Syrian Turkmen in Lebanon had increased to approximately 200,000.[48]

Kurds