Politicians are stoking anti-refugee sentiment in Lebanon

THE CONCRETE walls ringing the Al-Awdah camp for Syrian refugees in Lebanon appear cheerful. Pink hearts adorn one segment, SpongeBob SquarePants another. The walls, though, are the only remaining traces of 178 homes that were demolished in June, ostensibly for building-code violations. “It’s an upsetting thing,” says Abu Jawad, a longtime resident. “Even if it was only temporary, this was where you raised your children.”

The demolitions are part of an increasingly vicious campaign against the estimated 1m-1.5m Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Over the past few months the Lebanese government has deported hundreds of them and tightened restrictions on those who remain. Politicians have blamed them for a raft of economic problems. Spurred on by incendiary reports in the press, vigilantes have attacked camps and harassed Syrians in the streets. “I don’t think there is any scenario where this ends well,” says Carmen Geha of the American University in Beirut.

On an official level, Syrian refugees were never welcomed in Lebanon. Stiff work and visa restrictions and local measures, such as curfews, have been in place for years. When the refugees started arriving in 2011, the government stopped aid agencies from setting up formal camps. Politicians feared that if the Syrians stayed it would upset the sectarian balance underpinning...

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