By Stephen Dockery
TRIPOLI, Lebanon: Around 200 Syrian
refugees gathered in central Tripoli Sunday to demonstrate against their
government’s violent crackdown on civilian protesters and rally support from
the displaced community inside Lebanon.
Demonstrators locked arms, chanting
against President Bashar Assad. “We are with you until death,” they
pledged to neighborhoods under siege in Homs.
Most of the protesters hailed from
the central Syrian city now under siege by the Syrian army.
In front of the International Red
Cross Committee headquarters building at around 3 p.m., demonstrators gathered,
waving the pre-Baath party flag of Syria and carrying signs reading, “Homs
screams. Where is the world?”
The rally was held in a sparsely
populated business district just outside the city’s downtown area.
Amin Mando, an activist who helped
plan the demonstration said he intentionally selected the out-of-sight location
for two reasons.
He wanted first to draw attention to
the fact that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees does not have
an office in the city, which currently hosts the largest population of Syrian
refugees.
Mando said there are hundreds more
refugees in Tripoli than accounted for by the U.N. and thousands more across
the country. “Where is the U.N. office here?” he asked.
Mando also wanted to make sure
people felt comfortable. Past rallies have been disturbed by Assad supporters
while rallies near Tripoli’s Alawite areas sparked three days of gunbattles
between neighborhoods.
“It’s about family. This is a good
area for families,” Mando said.
And families did turnout, but there
was still a lingering sense of fear over the event taking place in a country
run by a government partially sympathetic to the Assad regime.
Many women kept scarves across their
faces and some young men donned masks.
One woman, who asked that her name
not be published to protect her family still living in Syria, said she was
still passionately behind the cause despite the dangers of living as a refugee
in Lebanon.
“I was in Homs protesting under the
bombs so it’s not a problem for me to be protesting in Tripoli,” she said.
Another woman went by the name Um
Mahmoud but didn’t want to give her surname because her son was imprisoned in
Syria.
She said the protesters want freedom
and democracy. She also said she’s afraid for her son.
The United Nations estimates that
over 5,400 people, mainly civilians, have been killed in a crackdown by
Damascus since the uprising began in mid-March last year. The Syrian government
denies targeting civilians and blames the violence on “armed gangs.”
The UNHCR currently has nearly 7,000
Syrians registered as refugees in Lebanon. But activists say there is nearly
three times that number in the country and claim that refugees are unable or
unwilling to register in Lebanon because of the government’s ties to the Assad
regime.
Prime Minister Najib Mikati told his
followers on Twitter Sunday night that his government was trying its utmost to
extend humanitarian aid and support without any political exploitation.
“The Higher Relief Council – among
others – is working on this matter but within limited capabilities and low
budgets,” Mikati tweeted.
Ledgers kept by activists put the
number of refugee families at 1,060 in Tripoli alone, around four to five
thousand people.
At the demonstration, loudspeakers
blared, and in a half-full side street surrounded by construction sites people
clapped and waved flags of the Syrian opposition.
One man lingering on the edge of the
rally wished there were more people attending. The long arm of the Assad regime
was the reason there were not more demonstrators present, he explained,
refusing to give his name because of security concerns.
“The people here are not afraid but there are
many more people afraid to be here,” he said.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2012/Feb-27/164732-syrian-refugees-in-tripoli-pledge-unity-with-under-siege-homs.ashx#axzz1naY8As4a
