Illustrative photo. (credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — The municipality of Majidieh-Mari, in South Lebanon's Hasbaya district, called on "confining" Syrian refugees in the area, whom they claimed had contracted cholera, L'Orient Today's correspondent reported.
In October Lebanon saw its first outbreak of cholera, a diarrheal illness transmitted by ingestion of contaminated water or food, since 1993. The health ministry has since said that the disease is under control.
Majidieh-Mari mayor Youssef Fayad told our correspondent that several Syrians suffered from food poisoning symptoms on Tuesday, after which "the Lebanese Red Cross transferred 12 of them to a hospital in Marjayoun. Examinations were conducted and a confirmed case of cholera was identified among these people."
The municipality then decided to urge residents and those of surrounding villages "to confine themselves and avoid Syrian camps in the vicinity," which host some 4,500 refugees, according to Fayad.
"It is absolutely necessary to confine these people to their places of residence" until the Health Ministry "conducts tests," Fayad claimed.
According to medical experts, cholera does not usually spread person-to-person. Instead, the bacteria spread through contaminated water and food.
The local mokhtar, Samer Abou el-Oula claimed that the measure taken by the municipality is "preventive."
The recent cholera outbreak in Lebanon started in Akkar, in an area near the border with Syria. At the time, Syria was witnessing a large-scale outbreak of the illness. This has further fueled discriminatory measures against Syrian refugees living in Lebanon.
This is not the first time that Lebanese officials have implemented discriminatory measures against foreigners in their municipalities, including Syrian refugees.
Last July, the municipality of Mansourieh, in the Metn area, imposed a mandatory curfew on Syrian nationals. The municipal police in Beit Mery, also in Metn, carried out daily patrols in the summer, prohibiting Syrians from gathering in the streets at night. The authorities turn a blind eye or encourage such practices, which have no basis in Lebanese law and are illegal under international law.
The last case of cholera was identified on Jan. 5, bringing the toll of confirmed cases to 671, according to Health Ministry figures, with the total death toll since October standing at 23.
Reporting conributed by Muntasser Abdallah