Ya Libnan

Charbel: Over 2 million Syrians in Lebanon by end year !

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marwan charbel interior minister press confMarwan Charbel ,Lebanon’s Minister of Interior and Municipalities in the caretaker government told As Safir newspaper in remarks published on Tuesday that the number of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon could exceed two million by the end of the year.

“The number of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon could exceed two million by the end of the year which is equivalent to half the population of Lebanon.” Charbel said adding that “if the flow of syrian refugees too Lebanon persists at same current level, it means that we are on the verge of disaster, and this requires exceptional emergency measures. ”

2 million may not be much for larger countries, but imagine if a country like USA which has a population of around 320 million has to cope with 160 million refugees.

The official number of registered Syrian refugees is around 700,000 but according to observers the number of unregistered refugees is much higher ( than registered) . According to some reports the number of Syrian refugees in some Lebanese villages and towns exceeds the actual number of permanent Lebanese residents .

The immensity of death and destruction in Syria has forced many Syrians to flee to the neighboring countries and it appears Lebanon, which is the smallest country in the region is getting the lion’s share of displaced Syrians.

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2 responses to “Charbel: Over 2 million Syrians in Lebanon by end year !”

  1. 5thDrawer Avatar
    5thDrawer

    The problem for Lebanese is that ‘jobs’ are not staying with them. Other ‘Lebanese’ were in the habit of hiring ‘cheaper’ Syrian workers. Even before they became war refugees, they were economic refugees bussed in every day for various reasons – usually used in construction. (Lebanese emulating rich Arabic oil-baron-countries.) And now there are so many of them, they are setting up their own businesses, and a lot of ‘funny business’ is going on with the ‘aid tickets’ too – in ‘new’ food and clothing stores.
    The bad ‘habit’ of ALL BUSINESS PEOPLE is in always seeking ways to maximize profits on the backs of the workers FIRST – and someone willing to work only for bread because they are starving will always get the job – and then eventually wonder why they are always the ‘working poor’ too, of course.
    But this is not simply an ‘immigration’ problem.
    A huge herd trying to escape death needed ‘first care’ when it began – and Lebanon was not setting it up right. (Hezzys’ didn’t want USAID or other UN aid-people knowing how bad the Syrian mess was becoming.) Refugees had to find ways to survive. THAT IS the instinct. (morality is another loss too, when survival is parmount) And there was enough sympathy from Lebanese to allow them the poor lodgings and infiltration of the job market – along with ‘help’ from relatives.
    And it takes a rare businessman who will keep a good worker, when it’s a ‘family-choice’ over replacing that worker with a cousin, nephew, niece, etc. (How many business-owners have you ever seen who will cut their own ‘pay’ to keep the good old worker AND hire the nephew. Right. Very rare.)
    After that, add ‘sectarian preference’ to the mix.
    LOGIC just went out the window … including the logic that now allows Charbel to use an extrapolation of numbers to state something about 160 mil into the USA (which would be 7.3 Syrias …) – when they didn’t want USAID ‘knowing’ in the first place 3 years ago – wouldn’t even let them LOOK. !!
    Just like Assad doesn’t let anyone look now …..

    Perhaps we could admit that the MAIN problem is in not having a functioning government for all those years … reasons known … perhaps actually since 2005, but certainly since the ‘last’ election.
    Voila. It is Lebanon today.
    (No wonder some doctor’s pay has been cut 70%. And I know some nurses were cut OUT ….)

  2. 5thDrawer Avatar
    5thDrawer

    The problem for Lebanese is that ‘jobs’ are not staying with them. Other ‘Lebanese’ were in the habit of hiring ‘cheaper’ Syrian workers. Even before they became war refugees, they were economic refugees bussed in every day for various reasons – usually used in construction. (Lebanese emulating rich Arabic oil-baron-countries.) And now there are so many of them, they are setting up their own businesses, and a lot of ‘funny business’ is going on with the ‘aid tickets’ too – in ‘new’ food and clothing stores.
    The bad ‘habit’ of ALL BUSINESS PEOPLE is in always seeking ways to maximize profits on the backs of the workers FIRST – and someone willing to work only for bread because they are starving will always get the job – and then eventually wonder why they are always the ‘working poor’ too, of course.
    But this is not simply an ‘immigration’ problem.
    A huge herd trying to escape death needed ‘first care’ when it began – and Lebanon was not setting it up right. (Hezzys’ didn’t want USAID or other UN aid-people knowing how bad the Syrian mess was becoming.) Refugees had to find ways to survive. THAT IS the instinct. (morality is another loss too, when survival is parmount) And there was enough sympathy from Lebanese to allow them the poor lodgings and infiltration of the job market – along with ‘help’ from relatives.
    And it takes a rare businessman who will keep a good worker, when it’s a ‘family-choice’ over replacing that worker with a cousin, nephew, niece, etc. (How many business-owners have you ever seen who will cut their own ‘pay’ to keep the good old worker AND hire the nephew. Right. Very rare.)
    After that, add ‘sectarian preference’ to the mix.
    LOGIC just went out the window … including the logic that now allows Charbel to use an extrapolation of numbers to state something about 160 mil into the USA (which would be 7.3 Syrias …) – when they didn’t want USAID knowing in the first place 3 years ago – wouldn’t even let them LOOK. !!
    Just like Assad doesn’t let anyone look now …..

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