The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has responded to the accusations currently leveled against it concerning, among other things, the aid it provides to displaced Syrians in Lebanon.
On Wednesday, the Lebanese Forces (LF) presented a “petition for the closure of the organization’s offices in Lebanon”, all the more so as the Caretaker Minister of the Interior, Bassam Mawlawi, stressed in a press conference that “more than 30% of crimes in Lebanon are committed by Syrians.”
The UNHCR initially denied accusations that it was providing displaced Syrians with aid worth $10 a day and $300 a month.
According to an UNHCR statement reported by the online news site al-Modon, “UNHCR does not provide full assistance to the displaced,” but this aid is “rather provided after a needs assessment and only according to people’s necessities. Only the most destitute refugees receive cash assistance.”
The UN agency pointed out that “there is a standard procedure for the assistance that should be given to Lebanese, refugees, immigrants, stateless people, and other categories of people.” According to the UNHCR, “the aid given to a refugee family classified as the most vulnerable is equal to or less than the aid given to a Lebanese family, itself classified in the same category.” Thus, “the value of the monthly cash assistance provided to Lebanese and refugees is well below the minimum basic needs basket, “SMEB” (Survival Minimum Expenditure Basket), to buy food, pay rent, medical expenses, medicines, send children to school, etc.” They specified, “For refugees, the monthly amount covers less than 50% of the minimum of this basket of basic needs.”
With regard to accusations that this cash assistance is pushing displaced Syrians to stay in Lebanon or encouraging others to flock to it, UNHCR pointed out that, “based on communication and exchanges with refugees, movements back and forth between Lebanon and Syria are rare, as the costs and risks associated with cross-border movements are high.”
It is worth noting that UNHCR’s statement is confusing in the sense that it somehow contradicts facts and figures frequently provided by the Lebanese Army.
Lebanese Forces MP Ghayath Yazbeck has announced that his ‘Strong Republic’ bloc is in the process of drafting a petition calling for the closure of UNHCR’s offices in Lebanon, accusing the agency of promoting what he described as “the new Syrian occupation.”
On his part, Malawi declared at a press conference that “we cannot remain passive toward the Syrian presence in Lebanon,” stressing that Lebanon “is not for sale.”
