An Amnesty International report released on Tuesday reveals that Lebanon has been implementing a discriminatory practice, blocking entry for “Palestinians” – descendants of Arab residents who left Israel in 1948 – who are fleeing the bloody conflict in Syria.
The report notes that while “Palestinian refugees” from Syria need to meet conditions for temporary residence in or transit through Lebanon, the same conditions are not required from regular Syrians fleeing the war.
While the conditions were put in place this May, the human rights watchdog reports that even prior to that date there were different discriminatory conditions for entry.
“The Lebanese authorities have displayed a chilling disregard for the rights of refugees who are fleeing a bloody conflict. Absolutely no-one seeking refuge from a conflict should be denied entry; by doing so Lebanon is flouting its obligations under international law,” said Sherif Elsayed-Ali, Head of Refugee and Migrants’ Rights at Amnesty International.
In fact, Lebanon apparently is blocking “Palestinian” entry from Syria regardless of the conditions it purports to set as allowing entry.
The report revealed a leaked document, apparently issued by Lebanese security services, ordering airlines flying into the Beirut airport not to transport any “Palestinian refugees” from Syria to Lebanon, regardless of the documents they have.
Reports show that the discriminatory practice in Lebanon has been in place for a long time. In May, it was reported that 41 “Palestinian refugees” were deported back from Lebanon into the war zone of Syria, where “Palestinian refugee” camps, primarily the Yarmouk camp, have been hit by the violence and by army sieges blocking off food supplies, leading to mass starvation.
Lebanon is not alone in its policies; the new Amnesty report notes that Jordan has also barred “Palestinian refugees” since last January, and cited testimony from last year indicating that entrance to Turkey was also harder for them than for regular Syrians.
“Unfortunately the new restrictions in Lebanon are only the most recent example of policies that discriminate against Palestinian refugees fleeing the conflict in Syria”, said Sherif Elsayed–Ali.
