Government Decides to Set up Two Syria Refugee Camps on Border
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربيةLebanon has decided to set up two camps for Syrian refugees for the first time along its border with war-torn Syria, Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas told Agence France-Presse on Thursday.
The move comes despite longstanding reservations among many in Lebanon over establishing camps, for fear they will encourage Syrians to stay on in the country or threaten its security.
Derbas said the decision to establish the two camps had already been approved and that government representatives were meeting Thursday to discuss implementing the plan.
The minister had told several local dailies published on Thursday that the establishment of the camps is part of a pilot project aimed at studying the feasibility of housing more refugees in the border area.
“The camps have become more than a necessity because the spread of the displaced (Syrians) inside Lebanon is no longer acceptable,” Derbas said.
"The Council of the Ministers has taken a decision to set up camps for Syrian refugees, one in the Bekaa valley in the Masnaa area and one in the Abda area in northern Lebanon," Derbas said.
"Estimates are that each camp could accommodate 10,000 people," he added.
In a statement, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said it was ready to cooperate with the project.
"In regard to the present proposal, we stand ready to work with the Minister of Social Affairs on reviewing possible sites and assessing their feasibility as requested," it said.
But it warned that the "overriding imperative" in selecting a site should be security.
"This includes making sure sites are in areas that are not prone to floods or erosion so as to support structures needed to accommodate refugees," the statement said.
"It also means that the locations must not be vulnerable to being compromised by armed elements which can threaten refugees and their hosts."
The minister's remarks came after a meeting of the ministerial committee tasked with following up the issue of the refugees.
The meeting preceded a scheduled visit by U.N. refugee chief Antonio Guterres.
It also came on the eve of Prime Minister Tammam Salam's trip to New York to attend the U.N. General Assembly session.
Salam is expected to discuss the burden of the refugees with donor countries during his stay in New York next week.
The number of registered Syrian refugees who have escaped the fighting between troops loyal to President Bashar Assad and rebels has reached 1.3 million in Lebanon.
There are an estimated 300,000 to 400,000 unregistered Syrians.
The United Nations said last week that more than three million Syrians have fled the civil war ravaging their country to become refugees -- a million of them in the past year alone.
Such camps should have been established at the beginning of the syrian revolution in border areas and in safe places inside syria. Michel aoun and HA government refused and failed to do so and now the country is suffering due to their incompetence.
Latest news: HA and the Syrian regime agreed to all the refugees to move into the liberated regions of Qalamoun (such as Qussayr). Then I pinched myself and woke up.
why not establish refugee camps on the other side of the border? on Syrian territories??
Bc syria is at war coolmec, it would be like if lebanon is at war with israel and they build us camps in south lebanon to get refuge in...
I know situation is shitty but we are (if we want it or not) engaged in this war (wont argue if hezbollah is right to go to syria, irak, yemen...) but the refugies are a humanitarian matter despite what side of the conflict they r in, it would have been so much easyer if since the begining we did camp, so we can know who is where and provide them adequate medical help, food, shelter so they don't live on the streets and become payed mercenaries... But our gov prefered to act as if nothing is happening in syria, like they were here to look for jobs (aka gebran bassil)
U know coolmec untill now we don't have refugee in lebanon, we still officially consider them displaced (nazihin and not laji2in) and this in international law is a big difference....
Some humanity coolmec even with wounded enemy, or we just become barbarians..
As long as these refugee camps are adjacent to Syria's border and closed from Lebanon's side...
I agree with you terrorist
the Syrian refugee situation is a bomb ticking ready to explode. these camps must be set up inside Syrian territory under UN control
That's what we need. More Damn camps. Thank god our country only has two neighbors. Otherwise the lebanese would end up living in camps. What a sellout of a government. Remember all obey your za3im!!! Look how they have safeguarded lebanon over the years. Bil dem bil roo7 nafdeek ya za3im!