Home › Where We Work › Middle East › Lebanon
Email | Print

Lebanon

Field Reports  In-Depth Reports  Letters & Testimonies

Overview
Lebanon is the host of about 50 000 Iraqi refugees whose status in the country remains uncertain. Needs are growing and return is still not an option for most. Failure to address refugees’ needs and the implications for Lebanon’s stability would have dramatic consequences for the country.

Current humanitarian situation
Iraqi refugees in are increasingly desperate.  In addition to having depleted their savings, they complain of increasing prices and exploitative, unstable work.  Fuel is more expensive, rent has skyrocketed, and the cost of food is higher. Since Lebanon is not a signatory to the refugee convention, Iraqis don’t have official status and run the risk of being arrested and detained at any time.

The Government of Lebanon decided in February 2008 to give amnesty to Iraqis who were illegally in the country.  Iraqis who had been detained for overstaying their visa or entering the country illegally were released on the condition that they find a work sponsor. But given the high costs to employers to sponsor migrants, as well as the fact that some employers prefer to hire people illegally and therefore pay lower rates, only about 10% of the Iraqis released from detention received the year-long sponsorship.  The Government of Lebanon should ease the costs to employers of sponsoring migrants, or develop other measures to ease labor restrictions, including recognizing the particular needs of refugees. 

As the amnesty is no longer valid, Iraqis are again being detained.  Several Iraqis detained in Beirut for illegal entry or overstaying their visas explained that they had served their sentence, but were choosing to stay in prison in Lebanon rather than be forced to return to Iraq.

Actions needed

  • The US must lead the international community’s efforts to provide assistance to Iraqi refugees and their host countries.
  • The international community must work with the Government of Lebanon to ensure that the Government’s flexible approach and policies towards Iraqis are implemented throughout the country and at all levels.
Field Reports
  • Iraqi Refugees: Women’s Rights and Security Critical to Returns
    07/15/2009
    The Iraqi refugee crisis is far from over and recent violence is creating further displacement. Iraqi women will resist returning home, even if conditions improve in Iraq, if there is no focus on securing their rights as women and assuring their personal security and their families’ well being.
  • Iraq: Preventing the Point of No Return
    04/09/2009
    The number of displaced Iraqis remains high, both inside the country and in neighboring ones. They remain reluctant to go back due to lack of security, the creation of ethnically cleansed neighborhoods, and poor government services.
more
In Depth Reports
  • Uprooted and Unstable: Meeting Urgent Humanitarian Needs in Iraq
    04/15/2008
    Five years after the US -led invasion, Iraq remains a deeply violent and divided society. Faced with one of the largest displacement and humanitarian crises in the world, Iraqi civilians are in urgent need of assistance. Particularly vulnerable are the 2.7 million internally displaced Iraqis who have fled their homes for safer locations inside Iraq.
  • Iraq: The World's Fastest Growing Displacement Crisis
    03/22/2007
    Four years after the U.S. launched its attack against Iraq, the civil war there has produced a humanitarian crisis marked by the world’s fastest growing refugee and internally displaced populations. But Iraq, Washington and the U.N. do not acknowledge the magnitude of the humanitarian crisis. This has led to an inadequate response, both within Iraq and in the region.
Advocacy Letters
more
Congressional Testimony
more
Successes

In line with our recommendations, in 2009 the U.S. provided substantial funding to the UN Refugee Agency’s Iraq programs and supported programs that prevent and respond to violence against displaced women. The U.S. also continued its resettlement program, admitting over 18,800 Iraqis last year.