Photo: Syrian refugee children near the town of Baalbek in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. Credit: Sam Tarling/Oxfam
Matt Hemsley, Oxfam Cymru’s Campaigns and Advocacy Manager is spending the week in Lebanon, learning more about the refugee crisis.
In Wales we’re used to endless comparisons with things in multiples of “the size of Wales”. Lebanon, population wise at least, is not too dissimilar in size to Wales.
Things have changed somewhat in recent years, following the outbreak of civil war in Syria. A country of four million people is now host to 1.5 million refugees. One in every five people – 20% – in Lebanon is a refugee. The equivalent figure for the UK is 0.18%.
I’ve come to Lebanon this week to learn more about how this country is responding to the refugee crisis and what people here make of the international response. Over the next couple of days I’m heading out of Beirut, but today has very much about setting the scene and gaining some valuable opinions.
This afternoon I had the chance to meet with Zaid Abdul Samad, Executive Officer of the Arab NGO Network for Development. Suffice to say, he was critical of European nations – indeed noting that Europe had seemingly lost its seat at the top table when discussing political solutions to the crisis. And he was almost confused as to how the UK could be struggling to resettle just 20,000 refugees from Syria when a much smaller country like Lebanon is hosting 1.5
million.
But there are other concerns in the region – of a lost generation from Syria, whether people leave or stay, children not receiving a full education and not having the skills to rebuild a nation; of having a post-conflict vision imposed upon locals, rather than empowering communities here to deliver their own plan going forward.
As conflict continues in Syria, there remains a greater chance of unrest within Lebanon. It is tough to predict what might happen here, but if the crisis in Syria continues with no sign of a political solution, can this largely calm and stable nation continue to remain calm and stable?
Earlier today I heard an EU representative discuss the European response to the crisis. As you might expect, he was much more glowing in praise for what the EU had done – but questioners here had a different view. And as EU states spend more on security (at the borders and in their states), it is foreign aid money that is being cut. Can Europe make itself relevant to solving this crisis – and stand up to protecting human rights and democracy in a way that other actors may not be able?
It’s been a thought provoking day – and especially interesting to hear the views of a senior NGO representative here in Lebanon. I’m looking forward to the next couple of days.
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If you want to show your support for refugees across the world, including here in Wales, join us in Swansea a week Saturday (17th Sept) to Stand As One with refugees, and show our political leaders we want action. You can sign up to the event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1162926417079874/