A general view shows tents at an informal camp for Syrian refugees in Ibl al-Saqi village in southern Lebanon on April 30, 2023. (Credit: Aziz Taher/Reuters)
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Caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi launched a national census on displaced Syrians, directing local officials to register Syrian refugees in their jurisdiction and making proof of registration mandatory for leasing or buying real estate and accessing contracts and official documents. This is the latest move amid aggressive policing of Syrian refugee communities in Lebanon and a rise in deportations and anti-refugee rhetoric. Mawlawi also addressed a letter to the United Nations’ refugee agency (UNHCR) reiterating the government’s request for data on displaced Syrians. Mawlawi also called on the UNHCR to close the files of Syrian refugees who willingly return to Syria — regardless of whether they come back to Lebanon — and to spread awareness on the importance of obtaining residencies. The caretaker government previously called on UNHCR to provide updated data on displaced Syrians in Lebanon, while announcing new restrictions for Syrian refugees, which include revoking refugee status for people who exit Lebanon and tightening the enforcement of labor restrictions.
Hundreds of taxi drivers blocked roads across Lebanon to protest deteriorating working conditions and unregulated competition. Traffic jams spread as protesting taxi drivers blocked the Charles Helou highway along with roads in downtown Beirut, Achrafieh, Hamra and Jounieh to protest “continued chaos in their sector and the deterioration of their living conditions,” the state-run National News Agency reported. One cab agency owner claimed that “400 cars have mobilized in the center of the capital,” and echoed the protesters’ complaints over “applications such as Bolt, Uber and others that charge derisory prices” and “force many cab drivers into unemployment.” The NNA reported that protesters called on the government to “prohibit drivers of Syrian nationality” and to take measures against “owners of false taxi license plates and motorcyclists who work illegally.”
Raja Salameh is scheduled to appear today before a delegation of European judges investigating the purported corruption of his brother, Banque du Liban (BDL) governor Riad Salameh, a judicial source told L’Orient Today. Raja Salameh skipped his hearing with the foreign magistrates last week citing health reasons. French, German and Luxembourgian investigators yesterday began the second week of their third visit to Beirut by questioning Walid Nakfour, from Ernst and Young, and Antoine Gholam, from Semaan-Gholam. The two firms previously audited Banque du Liban. Riad Salameh is being investigated in at least five European countries which have seized bank deposits and real estate worth hundreds of millions of euros suspectedly concealing BDL funds allegedly embezzled via the Virgin Islands registered company Forry Associates — which lists Raja Salameh as a beneficiary. This is the third visit to Lebanon by European investigators probing Salameh. They have so far questioned Salameh's former assistant and alleged co-conspirator, Marianne Hoayek; AM Bank chairman Marwan Kheireddine, who French authorities charged last month under suspicions of supplying forged bank statements legitimizing the BDL head's wealth; and the central bank chief himself.
Deputy Parliament Speaker Elias Bou Saab called for “dialogue” to resolve the presidential vacuum after a meeting with Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai. “We have not yet begun to discuss names of presidential candidates because the parties have not managed to support a common candidate,” Bou Saab said, commenting on the lack of consensus following Rai’s convention of over 50 Christian MPs last month. Lebanon has been without a president since Michel Aoun’s term in office ended on Oct. 31. Some 11 parliamentary sessions dedicated to the task of naming a successor have ended in failure.
In case you missed it, here’s our must-read story from yesterday: “Is the cabinet trying to sneak formal capital controls in through the back door?”
Compiled by Abbas Mahfouz