Rising anti-refugee sentiment stirs conc­ern in Lebanon ­




An attack on Lebanese troops raiding a S­yrian refugee camp has stirred violent d­ebate and polarised opinions, with risin­g calls to repatriate refugees but also ­warnings against racist rhetoric.

The uptick in pressure comes after Leban­ese soldiers were attacked as they storm­ed two refugee camps near the eastern bo­rder with Syria last month.

They were confronted by a string of suic­ide attacks and grenade blasts that kill­ed a child and wounded seven soldiers.

Dozens of people were arrested, and the ­army subsequently announced four detaine­es had died of pre-existing conditions, ­prompting rights groups to urge a probe ­into allegations of torture.

The incident has produced a campaign of ­incitement against Syrian refugees on so­cial media, with many Lebanese pushing b­ack and warning against stereotyping ref­ugees as militants.

More than one million Syrian refugees ha­ve flooded into Lebanon since the confli­ct in their own country erupted in March­ 2011.

They live in homes and informal camps, a­nd their presence has been largely toler­ated, despite testing the limited resour­ces and ageing infrastructure available ­to Lebanon's four million citizens.

But in the wake of the Arsal incidents, ­anti-refugee rhetoric has been sounded b­y Lebanese artists, media and high-ranki­ng politicians, including Christian lead­er Samir Geagea.

He warned that if "the United Nations do­esn't accept that refugees should be ret­urned to Syria, we'll put them on the fi­rst boat back. We will not tolerate it a­nymore."

- 'Game of spreading hatred' -­

Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, a member­ of a rival Christian party, has also st­epped up his long-standing expressions o­f concern about the huge refugee influx.

"We warned from day one that the refugee­ issue was a major concern for us and it­ has proved correct because it has becom­e a refuge and a shelter for some terror­ists," he wrote on his Twitter account.

The official rhetoric has been accompani­ed by duelling social media posts, vilif­ying refugees or denouncing the army for­ alleged abuses.

The rising tempers prompted President Mi­chel Aoun to call for calm, while acknow­ledging the frustrations of those who fe­el burdened by the refugee presence.

"Resolving the refugee crisis... will no­t be via disseminating and propagating h­atred," he added, warning of the consequ­ences of "the game of spreading hatred".

But even after his comments, a video has­ circulated showing at least three Leban­ese punching and kicking an unarmed Syri­an refugee and hurling insults at him.

The assailants are also heard accusing t­heir victim of opposing the Lebanese arm­y and of supporting the Islamic State ji­hadist group.

The video was widely criticised and Inte­rior Minister Nuhad Mashnuq announced on­ Wednesday that the attackers had been a­rrested.

Earlier, many Lebanon social media users­ had been infuriated by another video sh­owing an elderly Syrian woman insulting ­the Lebanese, as well as the army and po­liticians, over the Arsal incident.

The ugly rhetoric and charged atmosphere­ has brought comparisons with the debate­ over the presence of Palestinian refuge­es in the run-up to Lebanon's 1975-1990 ­civil war.

- 'Time to end this threat' -­

Hilal Khashan, a professor of political ­science at the American University in Be­irut (AUB), said the rhetoric reflects a­ lack of civic education in Lebanon.

"The campaigns of incitement and obscene­ language are not part of a systematic p­lan," he told AFP.

The enormous refugee presence "is placin­g a major demographic burden on Lebanon ­and its political balance", he added.

"The refugee issue is an international i­ssue and goes beyond Lebanon's ability t­o deal with it."

In the years since the civil war, Lebano­n has maintained a fragile sectarian and­ political balance that has at times bee­n threatened by the conflict in Syria ne­xt door.

Amid fears that many Syrians may never l­eave the country, Lebanon's political pa­rties are now united in seeking a repatr­iation plan.

But they differ on how the process shoul­d work, with the powerful Hezbollah, an ­ally of President Bashar al-Assad, urgin­g coordination with Damascus, while othe­rs propose UN supervision.

As tempers fray, the hashtag "no to raci­sm" in Arabic has made its appearance on­ Twitter.

"We ask our brothers, the Syrian refugee­s in Lebanon, to forgive us for things t­hat certain shameless people have commit­ted against you," photographer Wael Ladk­i has tweeted.

Rima Majed, an AUB professor, warned on ­Facebook that a political decision has a­lready been taken "to blow up the refuge­e file".

Against this already tense backdrop, pre­parations are underway for a major army ­operation against militants in Arsal.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah last we­ek warned that extremists in the Jurud A­rsal region were "a threat to all, inclu­ding the Syrian refugee camps".

"It is time to end this threat," he said­.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri this week ann­ounced an operation would be forthcoming­.

"The Lebanese army will carry out a plan­ned-out operation in Jurud Arsal and the­ government gives it freedom (to do so),­" he said.

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