Syrian refugees could lose their refugee status and right to work in
Lebanon as new rules regarding the obtention of their visa are being
implemented according to today's IRIN article 'Stranded Syrians at "serious
risk" of losing refugee status in Lebanon'. They will be
left destitute and increasingly subject to detention and exploitation.
According to IRIN:
Hundreds of thousands
of Syrians in Lebanon are at risk of losing their refugee status due to new
visa rules, the United Nations has warned. Late last year the country,
which hosts over one million registered refugees, announced new restrictions on
Syrians. While most of the media focus was on new entries at the borders, the
rulings also made it far harder for those already in the country to retain
their status.
The new system, which
is coming into force gradually as refugees’ current visas expire, requires
Syrians to provide a range of hard-to-obtain documentation, pledge to avoiding
all work (or face jail) and pay $200 per person. Yet their only official
income has just been cut by a third. Until
December each refugee received $27 for food per month, but that has been cut to
$19. Joelle Eid, spokesperson for the World Food Programme, confirmed the drop
was due to the organisation’s funding shortages.
Dana Sleiman,
spokesperson at the UN’s refugee agency UNHCR, said it was now becoming “all
but impossible” for many to maintain their legal status. “There is a
serious risk that most refugees will lose their legal status because of onerous
new rules to extend their stay every six months,” she said. “[Then] they will
be vulnerable to arrest and detention.
Sleiman
said UNHCR was asking the Lebanese government to reduce the fees to avoid thousands
losing their right to remain in Lebanon. She added the decision to ban refugees
from any kind of work increases the financial pressure on the UN at a time when
funding is short. The $200 fee is not in itself brand new, but until
January refugees that could not afford it would cross back into Syria and then
return and automatically get a new visa – thereby avoiding the extension fee.
The tighter border controls now make that almost impossible.
For those who do lose
their legal status, the impact can be dire. A report last year found
that Syrians in Lebanon illegally are often afraid of leaving the house in case
of arrest, even in cases of sickness. Children are often sent to work in place
of adults as they are less likely to be arrested.
George Antoun, Lebanon
Country Director at the NGO Mercy Corps, said he was concerned about the
potential increase in people not renewing their UNHCR documents. “If
people have the means to be legal I would say 100 percent of them want to be
legal. I haven’t talked to anyone who would be illegal on purpose. But if you
don’t have the means, what choice do you have?"
Lebanon
bearing the brunt
Since January, there
has been an uptick in Lebanese army raids on Syrian communities across the
country.Government officials point to the heavy burden Lebanon – a country of
roughly four million citizens – has faced in accepting so many refugees.
A World Bank study found that up to 170,000 Lebanese
people had been pushed into poverty by the impact of the war in the country’s
larger neighbour.
“I think that people, including
international NGOs and donors, are not grasping the magnitude of a 26 percent
increase in population in three years. I think it is unprecedented in history,”
Khalil Gebara, advisor to the Ministry of Interior, said. Asked whether he
thought the refugees would be able to pay, he said it was not unreasonable as
the visas would last for up to a year. “$200 is less than $1 a day.”
“There is no decision to bring the number of Syrians down, no. The decision
is to manage it, to make sure that everybody registering as a refugee is in
need not simply to benefit from any kind of support.”He said that it was not
official government position to discourage Syrians to enter.
He added that he was
concerned that some refugees wouldn’t pay and would therefore become illegal in
the country. “We are worried about this and we are looking to find concrete
mechanisms for Syrians registered with UNHCR to renew their residencies. We are
aware of these kinds of risks and the minister has been in touch with UNHCR to
facilitate and encourage Syrians to come and renew their residency.”
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