UNHCR slammed for ‘unlawfully’ issuing residency permits for Syrian refugees in Lebanon

Officials in Lebanon have blasted the UN refugee agency for issuing residency documents for Syrian refugees, saying it breaches local laws and state authority.

Images have gone viral on social media, purportedly showing ‘housing attestations’ (proof of address documents) given by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). 

“The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees issues residence certificates for refugees specifying their current place of residence in Lebanon and basic information. Refugees need this housing statement to renew their residency based on their UNHCR certificate, as requested by General Security,” the UNHCR website said.

Issuing these attestations falls within the prerogatives of the General Security – the agency in charge of border control and the affairs of foreigners on Lebanese soil – in coordination with municipalities. Lebanon’s Ministry of Interior oversees both General Security and municipalities.

Hezbollah-linked MP Ibrahim al-Moussawi condemned it as a “serious violation.”

“What is required is to take immediate measures against the commission [UNHCR] to deter it, as well as a serious initiative to take an official, national, and sovereign decision to stop the flow of displaced people and begin their return,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

MP Razi el-Hage of the Strong Republic bloc of the Christian Lebanese Forces wrote on X that the issuance of these proof of these documents by the UN was a blatant violation of Lebanese law and national sovereignty, saying the UNHCR was disrespecting a 2003 MoU which governed such matters.

Lawmaker and industrialist Michel Daher went as far as to allege there was a “global conspiracy” against Lebanon to keep the refugees there, noting that Beirut was not a signatory of the Refugee Convention in 1951.

“The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees did not adhere to the memorandum of understanding with Lebanon, which was signed in 2003, which stipulates that the asylum seekers are given temporary residency for one year until they are resettled in a third country. Otherwise, the Lebanese state has the right to deport them after the expiration of the period,” he wrote on X.

Anti-Syrian sentiment on the rise in Lebanon

Rights groups have warned against repatriations, saying Syrians were threatened by the Syrian regime with arrest and torture if they returned.

But according to analysts most of the refugees travel freely back and forth between Lebanon and Syria without any issues, which confirms Lebanese fears that the refugees are here to stay

Several other officials and social media users commented on the issue slamming the UNHCR, and calling for it to be questioned and held accountable.

Anti-refugee sentiment is at an all-time high in Lebanon

Lebanon hosts the largest number of refugees per capita in the world,

It is estimated that Lebanon hosts at least 2.2 million Syrian refugees but the UN claims that less than a million are registered with it.

Politicians in Lebanon accuse the UNHCR and the international community of trying to naturalize Syrian refugees in Lebanon, arguing that war-torn Syria was safe enough for their return.

Syria’s infrastructure and economy are in ruins after a 12-year conflict. Half of the country’s pre-war population has been displaced and over half a million are said to have been killed.

Cyprus recently called for the European Union to increase its financial support to Lebanon, arguing that Lebanon was a “barrier” that prevented refugees from entering Europe.

Cypriot Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou also asked the European Commission to reconsider whether or not Syria is still an “unsafe country” for refugee return.

The New Arab/ News Agencies