My comments

 

The government of Lebanon and the refugees

 

You're still reading my comments on point 5*

 

I explained about the UN51 convention in previous pages. Now I’ll speak about the government of Lebanon and since the UNHCR blamed the government of Lebanon of being the origin of the problem because it didn’t sign the UN51 convention so I’ll tell you the opinion of the Lebanese government about the problem of refugees in Lebanon.

 

Lebanon has faced many problems, from their southern neighbor ‘Israel’ and from 15-years of civil war. After the end of the last civil war in the 1990’s, Lebanon needed to build strong government able to solve a very high mountain of accumulated different problems. Lebanon is recovering from a long civil war, a war that left a lot of political, economical and sociological problems unresolved. One of these problems was the foreigners whom were living illegally in Lebanon. Also because of the rebuilding that had started, Lebanon to become attractive to immigrants who were looking for work.

 

There are 3 main categories of immigrants in Lebanon:

 

·        Refugees.

1.         Palestinian refugees, Estimated 400,000 refugees.

2.         Non-Palestinian refugees and asylum seekers. Estimated around 2500, the majority is from Iraq, Afghanistan and Sudan.

·        Syrian workers, There isn’t an official record, but it likely to be between 100,000 to 250,000

·        Other workers from different nationality like (Egyptians, Sri Lankness, Ethiopians, Philippines and Indians) they estimated some where around 100,000 to 200,000.

 

These categories compose nearly 20% of the population in Lebanon; therefore the Government of Lebanon has issued strict laws to regulate their living in there. The integration of Palestinian refugees was prohibited by the Lebanese legislation for political reasons. There are very strong restrictions imposed on these refugees by law: like access to legal work or the possession of landed properties in Lebanon. UNRWA is looking after those refugees in Lebanon and other countries in Middle East for the moment.

 

On the one hand, this has caused many political problems for Lebanon. On the other hand, Lebanon appears very sensitive to the cases of the refugees, and has a more advanced democratic system and respect of human rights than all of the other Arabic countries. Lebanon cares greatly about its own reputation towards democracy and human rights issues. Therefore Lebanon is looking to find some kind of balance between these 2 points:

  1. The political and sociological problems of the refugees on its territories.

  2. Its reputation of respecting democracy and human rights.

In this respect, it was hard for the Lebanese government to deal with non-Palestinian refugees as separate category. First off all the number of the non-Palestinians was very small compared with Palestinian refugees (4000 to 400,000)! Like the Palestinian refugees the non-Palestinian refugees were not permitted to settle in Lebanon, and the government of Lebanon supposed the UNHCR would look after the non-Palestinian refugees and to solve their problems according to the UN51 convention not by Lebanese laws.

 

Lebanon considers non-Palestinian refugees as illegal residents and they are facing a very big problem with illegal immigrants, since the number of the non-Palestinian refugees is so small compared with the population of the immigrants; again it has been difficult for the government of Lebanon to issue specific law to deal with non-Palestinian refugees. Therefore the government of Lebanon imposed the immigration laws onto the non-Palestinian refugees also.

 

Since the end of the Lebanese civil war at 1990 and until the present days, the Government of Lebanon has been trying to deal with the problem of foreigners in Lebanon through strict laws and regulations. Many times the Government has offered reconciliation (regularize) for all illegal immigrants with 2 options:

1.      Leaving the country without any penalties.

2.      Adjusting their illegal residency in Lebanon.

 

These options were available for the non-Palestinian refugees (I'll just say 'the refugees' from now on, not speaking separately about Palestinian refugees again). According to Lebanese law, any foreigner living in Lebanon who has exceeded his residential permission or enters the country illegally must leave or submit to reconciliation. Without going into details about this procedure, I'll just say that anyone who fails to receive reconciliation will be jailed and deported back to his country.

 

There are regulations to gain reconciliation according to Lebanese law. One of them is a sponsor or guarantor. Each illegal resident needs to have a guarantor, to live in Lebanon legally they must have a sponsor responsible for him and to provide him with work. To help him live a normal life like any one else, and to enable him to pay taxes each year. Lebanon like any country in the world doesn’t like foreigners wandering aimlessly in the streets without any one looking after them and with no work; this could lead to potential security problems in the country.

 

Lebanon offers refugees reconciliation, if they have a sponsor, but unfortunately the UNHCR has refused to sponsor the refugees. Since the UNHCR works with refugees to give them legal status without any interference from the government, logically the UNHCR is responsible for us. According to the UN51 convention, this responsibility includes many obligations towards the refugees, like providing us with financial assistance, shelter, health care and eventually finding us permanent residency.  

 

As a result, Lebanon asked the UNHCR to shoulder the responsibility of addressing the needs of the approximately 4000 non-Palestine asylum seekers and refugees (from various countries) who fall under the mandate of the UNHCR.

 

Without signing the convention, Lebanon gave the UNHCR permission to work freely with asylum seekers refugees in hopes that they will help them. The UNHCR then tries to ensure the protection of refugees, but under its own statute. In conjunction with local NGOs, particularly the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), the UNHCR also promotes asylum through refugee law seminars and workshops. Lebanon then allows the refugees who are recognized by the UNHCR to stay in Lebanon, but only on a temporary basis, without any prospect of integration. Since Lebanese authorities deny refugees any access to employment, the UNHCR must meets their most basic and immediate needs.

 

Note the emphasis on a temporary basis - this means that non-Palestine refugees cannot stay in Lebanon forever, and so remain displaced.

 

Because the UNHCR refused to sponsor the refugee, the Lebanese government offered a deal to UNHCR with these conditions:

 

  1. Lebanon gives the UNHCR permission to work freely with the refugees according to the UN51 convention.

  1. Lebanon will ensure the right of asylum seekers to reach the office of the UNHCR in Beirut.

  1. Lebanon will give the UNHCR permission to visit and deal with asylum seekers in the prisons in Lebanon.

  1. Lebanon will respect the decisions of the UNHCR toward of the asylum seekers without any interference from the government.

  1. Lebanon will grant legal permissions to refugees and asylum seekers who are recognized by the UNHCR for only 1 year. After that period the refugees must leave Lebanon, or otherwise be considered illegal residents, subject to immigration laws of Lebanon.

If you think about this deal you’ll see that it’s better than what UNHCR got in many countries, and it’s the best for the refugees! But unfortunately UNHCR refused that deal!!

 

I don’t understand why the UNHCR ignored Lebanese law and refused the one-year offer from the government of Lebanon to help the refugees and to find a permanent solution for their problems within this time! That misunderstanding planted a tree of pain in side me. This pain-tree has branches and leaves. It’s given me shade and I have sat beneath its branches many times to think. The same as Isaac Newton who discovered the law of gravity under his apple tree when the fruit fell on his head. My pain-tree also has fruits; they were my books and my campaigns. I hope you’ll join me under the shade of my pain-tree so we can work together to find the truth about the UNHCR. Please continue reading the truth under the shade of my pain-tree in the next few pages.

 

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