As of: March 13, 2024, 5:18 a.m
By: Wolfgang Hauskrecht
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Middle East expert Michael Bauer in an interview about the situation of refugee Syrians in Lebanon - and the true power of the Hezbollah militia.
Beirut – Michael Bauer works for the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Lebanon.
We reached him for an interview in the capital Beirut.
Mr. Bauer: Up to two million Syrians are said to have fled to Lebanon.
The country itself only has around 5.6 million inhabitants.
This could lead to tension...
Yes.
In Lebanon, questions of identity are omnipresent.
You have Muslims, Christians, Druze.
Christians and Muslims are again divided into many groups.
Politics and society are organized along these confessional lines.
The presence of 1.5 to two million predominantly Sunni Syrians is changing the demographic situation.
Lebanon “has largely failed”
Has the state not created any structures?
No, the state has largely failed and tried to ignore the problem for a long time.
At the edges of the fields you see makeshift camps in which sometimes two, sometimes 30 Syrian families live.
This is the case across the entire Bekaa Valley.
There are no reception camps where the Syrians receive coordinated care.
This creates problems with the locals.
What is Lebanon's relationship with Syria?
Syria has never truly recognized Lebanon's sovereignty.
The country was a player in the Lebanese civil war and then, until 2005, an occupying power that exploited Lebanon and eliminated opposition figures.
This still plays a role in the attitude of many Lebanese towards Syrian refugees today.
But you have to know that there have always been many Syrians in Lebanon, as seasonal workers in agriculture or in the construction sector.
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A boy in a camp for Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
© Lara Hauser/Imago
Economic crisis in Lebanon is aggravating the situation
The mood is now said to be tipping.
The situation is getting worse - also against the background of the economic crisis.
The Lebanese currency has lost well over 90 percent of its value in the past four years.
The crisis means that Lebanese have to go into jobs that they would not have done before.
This leads to competition with the Syrians.
The social situation is therefore tense.
And it is easy for populists to make the Syrians a scapegoat for many things.
What is the situation of Syrian children?
In any case, the situation of the children is dramatic.
We are heading towards a lost generation.
Jacqueline Flory from Munich is building schools in the camps.
She says it's getting more and more difficult.
I can imagine that.
The rejection that the Syrians face also affects the international aid workers, who are assumed to believe that the Syrians are only in Lebanon because they get international support and money here.
I don't think that's valid because Syria is not a safe place under dictator Assad.
The men have to fear being drafted into the military for an indefinite period of time.
Many also lost everything in Syria.
You can't just put these people in trucks and drive them back.
“Beirut is known for carrying on even in crises”
It is unlikely that the civil war will end soon.
Is there no solution?
Various conflicts overlap in Syria – internal, regional and international.
My approach would be: Which local actors can you work with?
Not with terrorists, of course, but perhaps with established tribal structures.
This could start a slow process.
But there will be no quick solution.
The Lebanese see that too.
The problem also affects all of Syria's neighboring countries.
Especially since the Assad regime doesn't want the refugees back.
We must be clear: the situation needs international support, humanitarian aid, but above all political commitment.
Germany itself has taken in almost a million Syrians.
The Middle East is our neighborhood, the distances are not that far.
The focus must therefore be on caring for refugees locally.
Especially since we in Europe currently have to deal with other refugee flows such as Ukraine.
On the Israel conflict: What is the mood in Beirut?
One looks with a certain tension at what is happening in the south on the border with Israel.
But Beirut in particular is known for carrying on even in crises.
It's not like people are sitting at home.
Are people all behind Hezbollah?
No, just the opposite.
Hezbollah should not be equated with Lebanon.
The organization is a state within a state.
The majority of the population perceives Hezbollah as a kind of occupying force supported by Iran.
Although Hezbollah claims to defend Lebanon, it is actually responsible for the fact that Lebanon is threatening to end up in a war that the people here in the country do not want and that the country cannot afford.
Hezbollah cannot be completely indifferent to this public opinion.
So in the end it is Hezbollah who decides whether to go to war?
The Lebanese government itself admits that it is not they who decide on war and peace, but the Hezbollah militia.
The clashes between Hezbollah and the Israeli army have now reached a very high level.
At the same time, the USA, France and Germany are committed to finding a negotiated solution.
I think that Israel and Hezbollah would not be averse to such a solution either.
Interview: Wolfgang Hauskrecht