BEIRUT: The government has shelved the idea of setting up trial refugee camps along the borders with Syria due to security concerns, according to the Social Affairs Ministry, echoing concerns that rights activists harbor toward the plan.
“The Cabinet has decided to put trial camps on hold,” ministry adviser Hala al-Helou said. “There were several factors behind the decision, there was a lot of discussion over the issue, and this is the decision they came to.”
She said that the government’s verdict came in light of the findings of a technical and security report, commissioned by the subcommittee handling the refugee file and submitted this week. “The security report advised against doing anything at this point,” she said.
Last week, a political decision was reached to establish two trial refugee camps, described as a “pilot project” by Helou, along the borders with Syria in Abdeh, north Lebanon, and Masnaa, in the Bekaa Valley.
Teams tasked with conducting technical and security studies to assess the feasibility of establishing the camps, which would have been located in the barren no-man’s-land separating Lebanon from Syria, presented their findings to the government Tuesday.
The Cabinet will devote its session next Thursday to assessing the country’s refugee strategy. There are currently 1.2 million Syrian refugee registered with the U.N. High Commission for Refugees, with more still trickling in across the borders on a weekly basis.
The move to establish trial camps was considered a political breakthrough, but NGOs and refugees were alarmed at the prospect of situating the camps beyond demarcated Lebanese territory, where they would be exposed to attack from the Syrian regime and militarization by rebels.
According to Interior Ministry sources, preliminary studies conducted by the subcommittee this week indicated that while establishing camps by the Masnaa crossing was practicable, doing so along the northern borders was not. Abdeh residents, tipped off about the potential plan, gathered by the dozen to publicly protest near the area’s Army checkpoint Wednesday, according to security sources.
“The fact the government is taking the need to develop a policy for refugees seriously is welcomed,” said Lama Fakih, a Syria and Lebanon researcher for Human Rights Watch. Fakih said that in recent months, HRW had received countless reports detailing eviction orders and blanket curfews imposed on Syrians by municipalities, and threats made against refugees by armed gangs.
“If camps are established [along the borders] they need to be done in a way that ensures protection for refugees,” she said. “If camps are placed [beyond] Masnaa, what would stop Syrian security from being able to arrest individuals?”
“From what I’ve seen, there are no guarantees for security [in this scenario],” she said.
Instead of establishing new camps, she suggested the government develop existing settlements across the country, something the government categorically rejects.
“The no-camp policy is still in place,” Helou said, referring to the option of establishing camps within Lebanon proper. He cited security concerns and the government’s policy of eschewing any form of permanent refugee settlement.
George Ghali, of NGO Act for Human Rights, said the decision to establish camps, whether in the barren outskirts or in Lebanon proper, came too late.
“It’s been three years,” he said. “It would be logistically challenging to move people, who at this point have been dwelling in the same place for three years, to a camp.”
Politically, he said, the decision to establish camps along the border was, upon closer inspection, riddled with challenges.
“Putting camps there requires international protection, and I don’t see the international community coming to a consensus ... I don’t see UNIFIL, the Lebanese Army or the Arab League doing the job.”
Nevertheless, Ghali said, establishing trial settlements elsewhere might provide alternatives for refugees facing eviction orders.
“In principle it’s a good plan. For once, Lebanon is thinking about how to organize its refugees,” he said. “But ... it’s too late, we already have 1.5 million refugees [according to government estimates].”
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