Abhirami Balachandar, Symbiosis Law School, Pune
ABSTRACT
Lebanon, a country in the Middle East with a population of about 300,000 Palestinian and Iraqi refugees, has taken in more than 1.2 million Syrian refugees since 2012, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). This article provides a comprehensive study on the impact of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, which is already in a precarious position. Lebanese poverty has increased by nearly two-thirds since 2011, while unemployment has doubled. In a time of economic hardship and restricted access to basic services, children and teenagers are the most impacted. Heightened security risks are impacting the vulnerable population. Welcoming a significant number of refugees poses a lot of challenges for any country, but it is incredibly challenging for those with inadequate financial and management resources. Lebanon did not have a precise plan for dealing with its refugee crisis. Lebanon's state and leadership are relatively ineffective in making sound judgments in the face of a humanitarian disaster. International aid organizations have had difficulty navigating Lebanon's political climate to help Syrian refugees. The article further elaborates on the impact of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon. Lebanon has obtained billions of dollars in assistance and soft-loan schemes, but considerable studies have proven that the rewards were not fairly distributed and were wasted in the form of corruption and mismanagement. The article involves a few pragmatic suggestions towards the end but an overall conclusion is that in light of the widespread poverty that has been documented all through the current situation, any solution must involve and accommodate both the refugee and the local people.
