Lebanon, at the confines of the war. Cap.3: over the wall, waiting for the return

(To Alessandra Mulas, Giampiero de Luca)
01/05/16

Refugee camps in Lebanon are not new, since 70 years are an integral part of this country. Born to welcome Palestinians expelled from their homes, they stayed here, given the inability of the international community to find a solution. After the outbreak of the Syrian conflict, others arose to accommodate those fleeing the territories occupied by the Islamic State.

About 15 kilometers from the Syrian border near the city of al-Zahle, Beqa Valley, there are about 400 thousand refugees (the 50% are children) almost impossible to be certain of the numbers because not everyone has proceeded to register. The camp we visit was set up more than four years ago, there are no houses but only uncertain wooden structures covered with plastic sheeting taken from old construction sites that barely manage to cover the very few possessions piled up inside the barracks where often cohabit from 20 to 25 people, and if the summer gives its 45 degrees that make the air of these structures become unbreathable, winter hurts even more because abundant rains and snowfalls spare no one.

Ayman Sharqiya, head of the area for humanitarian aid tells us that they try to do everything possible to help the families present, unfortunately the private management of the land does not allow to avoid the payment of rents, which reaches about 600 dollars per year per tent more the costs of electricity. There are no schools or health facilities, for urgencies they can go to the nearby hospital, where access to treatment is not easy.

The majority of these families would like to return to Syria because "it is a land that has never been hostile, indeed it has always granted the same rights as for citizens." Ibrahim Houssein Mohammad, head of a sector, says he escaped from Idlib, north of Syria, his home was destroyed, he left father mother and brothers and decided to cross the border with his wife and three children. He tries to survive on occasional jobs and has only one hope that everything ends up retracing those few kilometers that separate him from his land. Speculation about migrants in "flight" that have also become a bargaining chip with the intervention of Turkey, perhaps we know it only in the West.

Also in the camp of Shatila, a suburb of Beirut, in addition to the Palestinians of ancient times, Syrians-Palestinians and Syrians, as well as Iraqis, Sudanese, Ethiopians and other nationalities, are welcomed for a total of more than XNUM thousand people. A difficult cohabitation above all because in Lebanon it is forbidden for refugees to carry out 35 high level professional activities, such as doctor, teacher, engineer etc for which they are forced to perform low-paid jobs; the rent for them varies between the 73 and 250 dollars per month, figures clearly unsustainable for the majority who are in a state of unemployment; they must also bear the costs of the tourist tax upon renewal of the permit, 300 dollars per person, often fail to reach the required amount for the whole family, on average composed of 200 / 7 members, and they choose clandestinity.

Everyone would like to return to their homeland whether it is Palestine or Syria, and above all in the latter case they stress that they regret a state that guaranteed them home, work, health and education.

(images of the authors)