EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A Test of Lebanon’s Stability After four years of generous welcome to families displaced by the Syrian crisis, Lebanon’s government and communities now face a critical test of stability.
The economic and social impact of the crisis on Lebanon reached new heights in 2014. The mass influx of refugees from Syria into Lebanese territory continued, with 1.2 million Syrians registered with UNHCR as refugees by year-end and many more present but unregistered. As a result, the number of people residing in Lebanon has increased sharply by at least 30 percent since March 2011 – perhaps by as much as 1.5 million according to Government estimates, in a country of just 4 million Lebanese. The number of poor currently in Lebanon has risen by nearly two-thirds since 2011, and Lebanese unemployment has doubled. Children and youth are most affected after four years of economic hardship and limited access to essential services. Lebanese national health, education and infrastructure services are overstretched and a third of Lebanon’s young labour force cannot find work. For many of the poorest and most vulnerable communities, including displaced Syrian families and Lebanon’s long-term Palestine refugees, daily life is increasingly dominated by poverty and debt, fewer cooked meals, rising waste and pollution, long queues at health centers, over-full classrooms, disease outbreaks, falling water quality, and increased competition for work.
As new challenges follow years of chronic under-investment, Lebanese families are insistent that their own needs now be met as well as those of Syrian de facto refugees. Security concerns are growing, affecting all vulnerable people. Extremist armed groups crossing into Lebanon from Syria clashed with Lebanese Armed Forces in 2014, displacing communities. Lebanese leaders have been increasingly active to ease tensions despite the heavy burden on public institutions and the vulnerable communities relying on them.
The Government of Lebanon’s position is that repatriation of de facto refugees from Syria is the preferred durable solution for this crisis, while abiding by the principle of non-refoulement and recognizing that conditions for safe return could precede a political solution for the conflict in Syria. Based on this premise, and given the combined economic, demographic and security challenges facing Lebanon as a result of the crisis in Syria, the Government has adopted a policy paper in October setting three main priorities for managing the displacement situation: (i) reducing the number of individuals registered in Lebanon with UNHCR as refugees from Syria; (ii) addressing the rising security concerns in the country and in municipalities; and (iii) sharing the economic burden by expanding the humanitarian response to include a more structured developmental and institutional approach benefiting Lebanese institutions, communities and infrastructure. It also encouraged third countries to offer more resettlements and humanitarian admission opportunities for de facto refugees from Syria. The paper further states the Government’s readiness to work with the international community in order to achieve these solutions.