Fewer than half of Lebanon's school-age refugee children are receiving formal education. (Credit: © 2017 Brian Stauffer for Human Rights Watch)
BEIRUT — In a statement issued ahead of the sixth annual Brussels Conference, in which donors pledge funding in response to the crisis in Syria and neighboring refugee-hosting countries, Human Rights Watch and the Center for Lebanese Studies called for donors to hold Lebanese authorities accountable.
Here’s what we know:
• Donors “should press Lebanon to change policies that prevent aid from reaching schools and students,” the organizations wrote. “That includes the central bank’s practice of keeping most of the value of humanitarian aid by manipulating currency exchange rates at the time of withdrawal.
• Another impediment identified is the limit set on withdrawals, which prevent school officials from providing necessary amenities, such as electricity and staff salaries.
• They added, “The Education Ministry should publish data on student enrollment and attendance and end restrictions on refugee students’ access to schooling. Donors should also meet regularly with representatives of Lebanese teachers, who have been on strike for most of the year over compensation grievances.”
• The statement recommended that government officials “hold regular meetings with representatives of Lebanon’s teachers,” who had “voiced distrust that the Education Ministry allocated donor funding equitably, and said they were promised a salary raise that had not materialized.”
• The statement noted that between teacher strikes, COVID-19 measures and other issues, in 2021-22, Lebanese public schools had been open for only 34 days as of March 31, including days when schools were “only half-operational.”
• Other barriers to education were identified that specifically affect Syrian refugee students, who were “arbitrarily rejected [from enrollment in public schools] because they supposedly lack certain documents that very few have, such as legal residency in Lebanon.”