Solidarity in Lebanon: Iraqi Refugees
Caritas Lebanon Migrants Centre: an experience of displacement
On June 20th, 2011, the Lebanon Solidarity Trip team had the opportunity to meet with Caritas Lebanon Migrants Centre, and learn about the essential work that they do with refugees, asylum seekers, and migrant workers.
One of the important groups of people the organization works with is refugees from Iraq. Lebanon has been receiving a flood of Iraqi refugees for a number of years now. Previously, more Muslim refugees were fleeing to Lebanon, but lately, there has been an increase in Christian Iraqis arriving in the country.
Our presenter from Caritas Lebanon Migrants Centre shared with us that overall, Lebanon offers more individual freedom in comparison to other Middle Eastern nations, such as Syria and Jordan, and so that’s why many Iraqis have fled to Lebanon. She told us about the routes where one can enter Lebanon illegally from Syria. The CLCM staff members strive to work with the over 1,000 Iraqi families living in and around Beirut.
Caritas Lebanon Migrants Centre supplies immediate basic needs to newly arrived and desperate Iraqi refugees, as well as medical assistance in the form of helping to pay for medications, and paying for emergency medical bills.
Additionally, CLCM offers legal information and acts as an intermediary with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) to help them access basic resources. Many of the Iraqi families are hoping to move on to receiving nations like Canada, the United States, Australia and Europe. A big source of stress that the families experience is waiting to move on to one of these nations/regions. I can imagine it would certainly be difficult to live with so much uncertainty!
The organization also helps to pay for school fees and supplies for young students. One challenge that the staff member we met with explained to us was that a number of youth are dropping out of school in order to work. Rental accommodations in Beirut are quite expensive, and so it is a struggle for many Iraqi families to live in the city.
We were also told that Iraqi refugees do face some discrimination in Lebanon, mostly due to their accent. These pressures weigh heavily on many people and so alcoholism and domestic violence does occur among the people. CLCM employs social workers to work with the Iraqi families, and conducts follow up visits with them over their time here.
In really bad situations, there is a shelter for women and children in need of protection. We learned that Caritas Lebanon Migrants Centre also runs a 24 hour hotline.
Another positive program for many youth is a summer camp for Iraqi, Palestinian and Lebanese youth ages 6 to 14. The youth are brought together and live at a summer camp for a month. Many activities take place, including peace-building and social and recreational opportunities. There are also post-camp sessions to reunite the youth who have become friends but live in divided worlds.
Our team also had the opportunity to visit a CLCM Community Centre, which opened in March 2011. The Centre assists the Iraqi population in various ways. There are daycare/drop-in times for children aged 6 to 16. Sessions for women take place as well, where they can share their experiences and concerns, and make some crafts to sell. Some of the sessions are conducted with a psychiatrist. There is also an equivalent men’s group. Once a week, families get together to share a hot meal, and this allows newly arrived refugees to meet and learn from Iraqis who have been in Lebanon for some time.
It was certainly an eye-opening experience for the Solidarity Trip team to learn about Iraqis in Lebanon, the issues they face, and the work being done by Caritas Lebanon Migrants Centre to serve them.
by Amanda Nolan
[...] work the most with a large number of Iraqi refugees that have fled to Lebanon over the last decade (click here for blog post on their work with Iraqi refugees). However, the issue of migrant workers within the country, and their need for protection, was [...]