news1

The issue of assault on a civil defense unit was reacted by some Syrian refugees in Deir al-Ahmar in the Bekaa Valley and reached a decision to vacate the so-called "Caritas" camp after tension between the people of the region and the Syrians.

This incident came after a series of measures that began to affect the Syrians during the recent period in Lebanon, which some put in the context of restricting them to deport them, warning of the reflection of this matter on the relations between host communities and refugees, while others, including the Free Patriotic Movement, Is no more than a legal procedure that must be applied after the chaos of previous years.

The information about the attack on the elements of the civil defense in Deir al-Ahmar was conflicting. According to the National Information Agency, an element of the civil defense was damaged and a fire mechanism was broken. A number of Syrian youths threw stones at the police. The Syrian activist Ahmed Qusair said that after a fire broke out in the area and the residents of the camp and members of the Lebanese army succeeded in extinguishing the fire, the civil defense came and there was a quarrel between its members and one of the residents. The driver of the firefighters beat two tents for the Syrians, And then the municipal police and security forces came and arrested dozens of young people from the camp, which is home to about 150 families, while rumors circulated that all the tents would be burned, which led to the escape of all the people.

There was a rejection of the policy of collective punishment that affected all the residents of the camp and led to the imposition of a curfew on the Syrians, as well as the call to remove the camp, as indicated by the director of research at the Issam Fares Center for Policy General and International Affairs »at the American University, Dr. Nasser Yassin, pointing out that« what happened in Deir al-Ahmar is inseparable from all the recent measures that affect the Syrians and clearly reflect a strategy to pressure them and deport them ». The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ola Boutros, pointed out that those concerned in Deir al-Ahmar had taken their decisions based on their data, while refusing to put in place the measures implemented in the last stage in the context of pressure on the displaced. "What is happening today is not punitive measures, But legal after years of chaos in this file ».

Read also:

Gibran Basil denies his intention to weaken the "future" after accusations of the implementation of the "overt coup"

The heads of the municipalities of Deir al-Ahmar region and their dignitaries and activists denounced the blatant infringement by a group of Syrians on the civil defense. They explained that as a result of the popular anger and to protect the safety of the displaced persons, and to prevent the recurrence of such an incident, a decision was made not to return the displaced Syrians to the camp, The incident took place under any pretext, and the police of the Federation and Municipalities were ordered to guard their entrances.

For his part, Baalbek-Hermel Governor Bashir Khader declared that "in order to prevent further congestion and provocation, and to avoid any problems that may occur between the parties, and to preserve the security of the people of the town and the Syrians alike, a decision was made to impose a curfew on the displaced until Friday morning, With the security services to arrest the aggressors ».

According to Yassin, all the recent measures taken by the Lebanese authorities "from the decision to demolish the cement tents in the Arsal camps, to close the shops of the Syrians, the issue of pollution of the Litani river and the tightening of the law only towards the Syrians, Welcome them and pressure them through unwritten procedures instead of addressing this issue in a calm way ». On the other hand, Paul sees that "the repercussions of the non-implementation of the law are negatively affected Lebanese society, and will lead to greater tensions in the future between the Lebanese and the Syrians who are competing in their work and their livelihood."

In a statement to Asharq Al-Awsat, Paul stressed the importance of finding a sustainable solution to this issue and establishing a mechanism that distinguishes displaced workers and opponents who are unable to return from loyalists who go to Syria and return to Lebanon periodically, , It finds it difficult to apply it «based on several factors; the most important is the absence of any positive signs by the regime to walk». He explained to Asharq Al-Awsat: "There are many Syrians who want to return, but there are many obstacles, including security, destroyed buildings and the economic situation." This is clear to everyone even during the visit of the President and Foreign Minister Gibran Basil to Moscow. That the Russian initiative is linked to these factors, and is therefore not applicable today, and will be used by the system a political paper in the future ». "Whoever proposes this plan to register refugees, classify them and send names to the Syrian regime for the return of the loyalists at least, and then if they succeed, they will have taken an advanced step in this case," he said.

Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil said that the plan will be implemented after the adoption of the budget, stressing the need to accelerate the measures after all the repercussions that have affected the Lebanese society and specifically on the economy, in a manner that preserves the security of the displaced persons and the areas in them and to avoid tension. And hatred. "

"A large part of the displaced do not qualify for refugee status, so this point must be made to distinguish between IDPs and those working in sectors that have been previously called by the Ministry of Labor to settle their situation," she said. "There are 348,000 Syrians working in Lebanon in different sectors, contrary to the law, while the number of people holding work permits does not exceed 1733, while unemployment in Lebanon rose from 11 percent to 35 percent," says Paul.

You may also be interested:

Gibran Bassil confirms that he was forced to be foreign minister

Free Patriotic Movement holds its fourth national conference Sunday