Despite tension, Syrian refugees find sympathy in Lebanese villages
While Lebanon’s impoverished border towns are generally more concerned with pre-existing hardships than those brought by Syrian refugees, some xenophobia has crept into these areas.
Six years since the Syrian uprising turned into an all-out civil war, tensions in Lebanon between Syrian refugees and Lebanese nationals have continued to intensify, especially in Beirut. It is no secret that Lebanese officials have contributed to the scapegoating of refugees for Lebanon’s socioeconomic and political woes.
In February, Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil hinted that the influx of Syrian refugees in Lebanon poses a demographic and existential threat. “Lebanon, without its philosophy and culture, will go to the advantage of refugees and terrorists,” he told expats in Johannesburg, South Africa.
In July, reported incidents of violence against Syrian refugees increased in and around Beirut. The army was also accused of torturing four Syrian refugees to death, while the military said the detained Syrians died of “natural causes.”
However, the xenophobic rhetoric seems not to have infected many of Lebanon’s communities near the border in the country’s two most impoverished regions. While tensions do exist between them and the Syrian refugee community on an economic level, there appears to be a level of mutual understanding over their difficult economic circumstances.
