Parliament meeting at the Serail on Sept. 11, 2024. (Credit: The press office of outgoing Prime Minister Najib Mikati)
Another Christian backlash has erupted against Najib Mikati’s caretaker government. At a Wednesday meeting at the Grand Serail, the cabinet authorized the Education Ministry to issue certificates to Syrian students who passed Lebanon’s official technical baccalaureate exams.
This move led Hanadi Berri, the ministry’s director of technical education, to permit Syrian students without official documents (provided by Lebanese General Security) to register for the 2024-2025 academic year.
While this decision theoretically aligns with Lebanon’s international obligations, political agendas quickly overshadowed it. The Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and its Christian rival, the Lebanese Forces (LF) — both staunch advocates for the return of Syrian migrants and refugees —unexpectedly aligned on the need to oppose what they perceive as a “Syrian resettlement project in Lebanon.”
They deem this battle “existential” and are ready to employ all tactics, including street protests, to fight it.
In an interview with L’Orient-Le Jour last August, caretaker Education Minister Abbas Halabi made it clear: “Lebanon is committed to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the right to education is sacred, regardless of a child’s nationality.”
“This means that we enroll all Syrian children in schools, whether their status is legal or not, and send the data to General Security,” he said.
The cabinet’s decision on Wednesday reflects Halabi’s intent to follow through on this commitment.
Additionally, a source within the Education Ministry told L’Orient-Le Jour that this decision is made every year before the school year begins.
“However, starting next academic year [2025-2026], we will no longer accept Syrian students without official documents,” the source noted.
A senior government official also mentioned that Mikati will meet with Halabi on Tuesday to address these concerns. This has done little to alleviate the apprehensions of Christian political factions, who remain opposed to the large influx of Syrian migrants and refugees in Lebanon.
At a press conference on Saturday, FPM leader Gebran Bassil urged Mikati to revoke what he described as an “existential decision for Lebanon.”
Reaffirming his party’s stance on the political battle to secure the return of Syrians currently in Lebanon, Bassil called on all the country’s stakeholders who consider themselves “sovereigntists” to join forces with the FPM.
“Our very existence is under threat. The alarm must be sounded,” he said.
Bassil added that “the confrontation must intensify and be translated into action. We will mobilize, even if we stand alone … because we are soldiers in an existential battle.”
Bassil also announced that the FPM’s political council would meet on Tuesday to determine the next steps.
“We will use all means to stop the schooling of Syrian children,” said Naji Hayek, FPM Vice President for External Affairs, not ruling out the possibility of street protests.
Bassil’s jab at the Marada Movement
A key point is that the cabinet made this decision while the FPM-aligned ministers have been boycotting government sessions since December 2022 amidst the presidential vacancy. As a result, they have missed the chance to oppose decisions they consider “inappropriate.”
In response, Bassil shifted the responsibility to the Marada and independent (mainly Christian) ministers.
“Does your conscience allow you to approve the decision to place Syrians in our schools?” he asked.
According to a ministerial source who spoke to L’Orient-Le Jour, the session took place without caretaker Telecom Minister Johnny Corm (Marada), while Information Minister Ziad Makari left the meeting before the issue of Syrian students was discussed.
This issue was raised outside the official meeting agenda. The two ministers, however, along with caretaker Industry Minister Georges Bouchikian, issued a statement on Monday requesting that the matter be included in the agenda of the next government session “so that it can be discussed calmly before any decision is made.”
Mikati is expected to approve this request, as a ministerial source suggested, noting that the premier wants to avoid any political turbulence during a sensitive time.
The LF, who prioritized the issue of the Syrian presence in Lebanon, particularly after the murder of their regional coordinator for Jbeil Pascal Sleiman (allegedly by a Syrian gang last April), is preparing to take further action.
The party previously called on Mikati and Halabi to enforce laws governing the schooling of Syrian children in Lebanon.
“We oppose the government’s decision. However, unlike the FPM, we are not part of the ministerial team,” said LF MP Ghayath Yazbeck, accusing Bassil’s party of “using this issue for populist gains.”
Yazbeck emphasized that there is no coordination between the two parties on the Syrian issue. Both the LF and the Kataeb have called for a sit-in on Tuesday at noon in front of the Directorate of Technical Education in Dekwaneh, “to protest the recent decisions of the Education Ministry,” according to a statement issued Monday by the LF education department.
This article was originally published in L'Orient-Le Jour and translated by Sahar Ghoussoub.