Samya Kullab
Moving refugees in Arsal elsewhere in Lebanon would not only assuage the burden of hosting Syrians on the border town, but invalidate a key claim of militants holding Lebanese servicemen captive, an Interior Ministry source said. Last week, Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk proposed to the Cabinet that the government move thousands of Syrian refugees outside the northeastern border town to defuse tensions putting both soldiers and civilians at risk.
“One of the claims the militants have is that they are protecting refugees,” Interior Ministry adviser Khalil Gebara told The Daily Star, clarifying Machnouk’s stance. “Removing them [refugees] would not only decrease pressure [on Arsal] but negate the claims the militants are using toward refugees.”
One of the demands being made by the Nusra Front, who are holding Lebanese soldiers and policemen captive on the outskirts of Arsal, is that Syrian refugees in the town are not made the target of reprisal attacks. Militants were believed to have taken refuge in the town’s camps, where they have relatives, before the Aug. 4 clashes.
Despite the Cabinet’s failure to come to an agreement over the issue, politicians rallied behind Machnouk’s plan to relocate Syrian refugees in Arsal.
Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas told Voice of Lebanon Sunday that Machnouk’s plan aimed to “defuse tensions in the town,” and that “it is not political,” but based on security concerns.
Previously, Machnouk had announced that his ministry would act alone in relocating refugees if the Cabinet failed to secure a majority endorsing the initiative. Derbas, in turn, said he believed Machnouk had the authority to do so, as it was “one of the minister’s prerogatives,”
According to Gebara, Machnouk reasons that security issues in the camp would be alleviated by relocating some 30,000-40,000 Syrian refugees from Arsal.
Machnouk also hinted that the ministry would set up formal camps for Syrian refugees, a controversial and contested political subject, despite the lack of consensus among Lebanon’s political factions. The Free Patriotic Movement vehemently opposes such a move.
“The Interior Ministry is going to build camps even if they are not approved by all,” Machnouk said Friday while signing a memorandum with Marylise Lebranchu, the French minister for public services and decentralization.
The idea garnered backing from Health Minister Wael Abu Faour, who voiced his support to the interior minister, saying the suggestion would be a “solution for the refugee crisis in Arsal.”
“[Machnouk] is saying that one way of solving [security] problems in Arsal completely would be to establish camps,” Gebara said.
“These camps would have to be [in Lebanese territories] far from the borders,” Gebara said.
“The political elite is sowing resentment regarding the formation of such camps,” he said, adding that Machnouk would raise the issue in Thursday’s Cabinet meeting anyway.
“He knows the policy is unpopular but he will lobby anyway,” he said. “He’ll make the point that [establishing camps] is important for national interest, given the national security implications, and that this outweighs any reservations against the policy.”
Derbas added to the lobby to establish camps Saturday, saying Kuwait was ready to finance the initiative to better organize the 1.2 million Syrian refugees registered with the U.N. in Lebanon.
Despite the Cabinet’s rejection of his proposal, Derbas said, he would visit the Gulf country in October to discuss the issue.
Gebara said the establishment of camps inside Lebanon raised by Machnouk was separate from the plan to set up camps at the Masnaa border crossing, which he said was something the ministry was “still looking into,” despite a preliminary assessment that concluded the venture would be too costly. “The first assessment showed it was too expensive, we needed $10,000 million to set up camps for 10,000 refugees [in Masnaa],” he said.
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