A Syrian refugee stands with his children on the rubble of their camp in Bhanin, which was torched in December 2021. (Credit: João Sousa/L’Orient Today)
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Cabinet ministers tasked various ministries with implementing restrictions against Syrian refugees in Lebanon and gave a one-week deadline for the UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR, to provide data on displaced Syrians. In addition to “all kinds of data” requested from UNHCR, the Interior and Social Affairs ministries were tasked with registering the births of Syrians in Lebanon. Ministers called on security forces to prevent irregular border crossings into Lebanon, adding that “refugee status” will be revoked for those leaving Lebanese territory. The Labor Ministry was tasked with “tightening labor control” measures for refugees, for whom legal employment is already restricted to agriculture and several other labor-intensive fields. Caretaker Justice Minister Henry Khoury was asked to negotiate the “immediate” deportation of Syrian detainees. Dozens of displaced Syrian nationals have been deported since the start of April amid aggressive policing of the refugee community in Lebanon. On Tuesday, caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi, expressing fear of potential clashes with counter-protesters, banned a protest by Syrian refugees at the UNHCR headquarters in Beirut.
Leader of Marada Movement and unofficial presidential candidate Sleiman Frangieh on Wednesday evening said he will not attend a parliamentary presidential electoral session that would "challenge" Saudi Arabia. “In that case, I might be capable of becoming a president, but I won't be able to rule properly. And for that, I say I am not in a hurry," said Frangieh. Asked whether he would officially announce his candidacy Frangieh said: "I have the right, according to the constitution, and all the necessary characteristics, to be a presidential candidate." Lebanon has been without a president since Oct. 31, 2022, when Michel Aoun left office. Parliament has repeatedly failed to elect a president in 11 election sessions.
The Social Affairs Ministry announced the launch of a National Disability Allowance program, which will give monthly allowances to those with disabilities. On Wednesday, 5,000 people between the ages of 18 and 28 registered with the ministry received a message explaining they could collect their first allowance through the transfer company OMT, the ministry confirmed to L'Orient Today. The program is funded by a $20 million grant from the European Union and in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund and the International Labour Organization. Over the next year, the monthly allowance of $40 will eventually be expanded to more than 20,000 people. ILO regional deputy director Peter Rademaker said the program is a “great step forward in the expansion of social protection in Lebanon.” Rademaker’s statement emphasized the marginalization of people with disabilities in Lebanon, who, according to his predecessor Ruba Jarada, face a 35-40 percent higher cost of living. Sylvana Lakkis, president of the Lebanese Union for People with Physical Disabilities (LUPD), estimated that there are more than 700,000 Lebanese living with disabilities.
An arraignment with an alleged Hezbollah financier was scheduled for yesterday, after his extradition from Romania to the US over charges of sanctions evasion and money laundering. Dual Lebanese-Belgian citizen Mohamad Bazzi was arrested on arrival in Romania in February for allegedly moving “hundreds of thousands of dollars from the United States to Lebanon” despite having been sanctioned by the US Treasury on suspicions that he provided millions of dollars to Hezbollah. Prosecutors in Brooklyn last week charged another alleged Hezbollah financier, Nazem Ahmad, with evading US sanctions by exporting hundreds of millions of dollars of diamonds and art.
“We will not allow any candidate [backed by Hezbollah and their allies] to reach the presidency,” reiterated Zgharta MP Michel Moawad, whose candidacy for the presidential election is backed by the Lebanese Forces and their allies. Moawad echoed an earlier statement from Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, expressing willingness and capability to induce a lack of quorum in Parliament to prevent the election of a Hezbollah-backed candidate. “We will not allow anyone to decide who our president will be,” added Kataeb leader Sami Gemayel, after a meeting with Moawad yesterday. Gemayel’s comments came in response to a statement made earlier the same day by Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Naim Kassem presenting Marada Movement leader Sleiman Frangieh as the sole solution to the presidential vacuum.
In case you missed it, here’s our must-read story from yesterday: “Of artists, architecture and a devilish embrace”
Compiled by Abbas Mahfouz