Lebanon in Limbo over Growing Number of Syrian Refugees

The Lebanese government is expected to meet to discuss the fate of the growing number of Syrian refugees after cabinet members and the United Nations refused to establish camps to house them on the border with Syria.

Several ministers rejected the idea during a session held under Prime Minister Tammam Salam on Thursday over fears that the shantytowns would turn into training camps for jihadists.

According to local dailies, the U.N. has not welcomed the idea and U.S. Ambassador David Hale has recently expressed fears that the camps would “turn into another Arsal.”

Last month, the northeastern border town witnessed heavy clashes between militants, who overran Arsal, and the Lebanese army.

The jihadists from al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State group came from Syrian territories but others joined them from encampments of refugees in and around Arsal.

The political parties will not approve the establishment of camps, a cabinet minister from the Free Patriotic Movement told As Safir daily.

FPM chief Michel Aoun and Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah disagreed with the plan during their latest meeting, the minister said.

Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas, a centrist, was also clear in saying that he “would not take any step forward if there was no consensus on the issue.”

The establishment of camps “should have the full political cover of all the parties” represented in the cabinet, he told As Safir.

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq warned, however, that the failure to adopt the plan to set up the camps would speed up a decision to close the border and prevent the entry of more refugees.

According to an official report, the number of registered and unregistered refugees in Lebanon reached 1.5 million, around 30 percent of Lebanon's population.

The report warned that newly displaced Syrians will escape more fighting in their country and up their numbers if the Lebanese authorities stuck to their decision to keep the border open.

Their numbers could reach to 2 million in the first half of 2015, meaning half the size of the Lebanese population, it said.

This could allow jihadists to infiltrate Lebanese cities and towns mainly in the northern district of Akkar.

According to the report, the Lebanese will be living in “extreme security, political and social concern for more than ten years if the Syrian crisis was over soon” although such a breakthrough is not expected.

It warned that Lebanon would also suffer from an economic collapse, followed by security chaos and a huge change in the country's demographics.

The three-year-old conflict in Syria has displaced some 6 million people, according to the U.N. Refugee Agency.

G.K.

H.K.