Mohammed Zaatari
As Syrian refugees across Lebanon are faced with increasingly hostile local host communities as a result of tensions over the situation in Arsal, Sidon’s 7,000-strong population is keeping its head down.
“Currently, we don’t have any difficulties or problems in this complex,” said Abu Maysar, who has the job of overseeing the Ouzai refugee complex, the largest in Lebanon’s southern capital, which hosts 13 informal tented settlements.
The complex, situated at the northern entrance to the city, mainly shelters refugees from the Rif Hama village of Hawija – some 173 families in all.
“Security officers visited the complex and were unable to spot anything wrong here,” Abu Maysar said.
“As for services, the only thing posing a problem for us is fresh water,” he added, pointing to women standing in line to fill water bottles. “All the other services are available.”
Although he admitted the camp was being forced to reject new families seeking shelter because there was no longer any space for them, he urged Lebanese authorities to treat refugees well.
“[We ask] security [forces] to be nicer with the Syrians so that they don’t cause trouble,” he said.
“We have no role in what’s going on in Arsal,” he added, referring to the fighting that broke out in the city last month between the Lebanese Army and extremist Islamist rebel groups from Syria.
Five days of heavy clashes in early August led to the capture of at least 29 security personnel, at least 21 of whom are still being held by ISIS and the Nusra Front after five were released and two – soldiers Ali Sayyed and Abbas Medlej – were beheaded.
The ongoing situation has proven a major source of tension throughout the country, and while Sidon’s refugees have managed to so far escape unscathed, other communities in Lebanon have not been so lucky, and have been subjected to violence and threats of expulsion.
In the Bint Jbeil district town of Burj Qalaway, Syrian Ali Ibrahim al-Ali’s vehicle was set on fire Monday, and a very similar incident occurred in the nearby town of Ghandourieh, when two motorcycles belonging to Syrians residing in the town were set ablaze.
Also Monday, in the Tyre district town of Srifa, flyers demanding that Syrians evacuate the town were distributed. “We can no longer take it,” read the flyer, signed by a group calling themselves the Public Committees. “We ask all Syrian refugees and residents, without exception, to evacuate and leave the area.”
The flyer gave Sept. 15 – Monday – as a deadline.
Afraid of what would happen if they disobeyed, refugees promptly began to gather in the town’s square with their belongings, ready to leave the town.
It wasn’t until figures from the Amal Movement and Hezbollah – the dominant parties in the area – denounced the act and intervened to prevent them from fleeing that the situation was resolved.
Srifa Mayor Mohammed Deeb and other officials also reassured the refugees that they were welcome in the town until the situation in Syria calmed down. An investigation is now underway to find out who was behind the flyers.
Similar incidents were also reported Monday in Beirut’s Burj Hammoud suburb, the tented settlements in Zahrani’s Al-Beysareyah and Al-Aaqabeyah neighborhoods and in Burj al-Shemali near Tyre.
“I am going to pack my stuff and go back to Aleppo,” said Mohammed Hamadi, a refugee in the Burj al-Shemali camp.
But while some decided to flee before things got any worse, others decided to wait to see if the threats were serious.
“We are under the Lebanese law,” said Arif Ali, another refugee in Burj al-Shemali. “We moved here to run away from death and we’re here as a family.”
Back in Sidon, a process of constant coordination between the managers of the camps and the various municipalities, security and military forces is underway. A number of precautionary actions are also being taken, including regulating the movements of refugees and taking regular pre-emptive security measures.
Regardless, Sidon officials say the city can no longer continue to absorb more Syrian refugees.
“There’s no doubt that the burden of the refugees in Sidon has exceeded all possible capabilities for the organization, other associations and the municipality,” said Kamel Kazbar, head of the Union of Relief Organizations.
Until now, he said, the municipality and the security forces had been able to avoid any incidents or clashes with the refugee communities.
“We hand [their security] over to the security forces, since it’s the sole force responsible for the security of refugees and displacement.”
But he also pointed to the fact that the demand on housing and places to shelter refugees was expected to rise.
Urging the Lebanese government and the United Nations to fulfill their duties toward the refugees, Kazbar said the situation was reaching the tipping point.
“The truth is, Sidon no longer has the capacity to welcome new families,” he said.
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