Hostility towards Syrian refugees mounts
Lebanese politicians warned against fuelling resentment
ABU YAZAN has rarely stepped out of his flat in northern Lebanon since he was beaten up on the street in June.
The 32-year-old father from Syria was leaving a pharmacy at about midnight, when two strangers came up to him asking for a light. Then they asked if he was Syrian.
“They both got off the motorcycle and beat me,” said Abu Yazan, who lives near the port city of Tripoli. “The second guy took off his belt and hit me with it on my back, my head. I couldn’t do anything.” His wife cried for help but onlookers did nothing.
For six years, tensions have simmered as 1.5 million Syrians poured into Lebanon, equal to around a quarter of its population.
Refugees have faced waves of hostility since the conflict in neighbouring Syria took hold.
But the debate over their presence has taken a harder edge in recent months, fuelled by political leaders saying Lebanon has lost patience with the social and financial burden of the refugee crisis.
As they press demands for refugees to return to Syria, Lebanese politicians have warned of rising public anger.
Like Abu Yazan, other refugees say they have hidden in their homes or camps for fear of assault, arrest, or humiliation.
In recent months, most of Lebanon’s main parties have united in pushing for repatriation, a difficult demand as war has ravaged much of Syria. Rights groups have warned against forced return, and refugees often say they fear conscription into the Syrian army.
Calls for refugees to return come as the Syrian government shores up its rule over main urban centres and ceasefire deals have eased fighting with rebels in parts of western Syria.
The UN refugee agency has not seen a growing trend of reported attacks against Syrians, but has voiced concern about mounting tensions. Reports of attacks remain isolated incidents, spokesperson Lisa Abou Khaled said, but refugees do “feel more anxious” and afraid.
Tensions escalated in June after Lebanon’s army arrested hundreds of Syrians in a raid on refugee camps near the border, during which suicide bombers attacked soldiers.
When four detainees later died in custody, the military said it was from chronic illness. Activists and refugees challenged this account, some blaming the deaths on torture.
In this climate, a video circulated on social media of three Lebanese men beating up a refugee on the street. Authorities detained the attackers.
Syrians in Lebanon say they have faced widespread harassment. Some said they felt it deteriorate in recent weeks. “I don’t dare walk down the street,” said one refugee living amid makeshift tents in the Akkar region, who declined to be named because of security fears. “I get swear words.”
Abu Yazan, who came to Lebanon five years ago, said hostility from strangers and the recent assault scarred him. The attackers threatened to shoot him if they saw him again.
“We hear a lot. ‘You Syrians have robbed us. Go back to your country’,” he said. “When we came to Lebanon, it wasn’t by choice. We were fleeing a war. We considered them our people, our brothers.”
Many Lebanese worry refugees threaten the country’s security and burden its sluggish economy, hardhit by Syria’s war. Others say refugees take jobs or strain Lebanon’s already dysfunctional public services.
The Lebanese government has long avoided setting up official refugee camps. Many Syrians live in tented settlements, amid poverty and facing restrictions on legal residence or work.
The head of Lebanon’s Maronite Christian church, Patriarch Beshara al-Rai, has urged politicians to work on returning Syrians home.
Nasser Yassin, a researcher of refugee policy at the American University of Beirut, said Lebanese communities were growing weary of hosting large numbers of refugees.
He warned against politicians fanning the flames by inflating the actual burden of the refugee crisis.