Alwaght- The Lebanese government has welcomed United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon along with president of the Islamic Development Bank, Ahmad Mohammad Ali al-Madani, and the president of the World Bank Group, Jim Yong Kim. Despite their hospitality, the authorities are well aware that the UN chief has not come bearing gifts, but rather a parcel of burdens to be placed on Lebanon’s shoulders.
Ban and the bankers paid Lebanon the visit to review support programs for Syrian refugees—who were forced to leave their homes in Syria as a result of the bloody conflict—in neighbouring countries, including Lebanon. These includes procedures to access funds from the World Bank. Both banks have signed agreements worth hundreds of millions of dollars to help the country cope with the large number of displaced refugees.
The Secretary-General, for his part, praised the country for demonstrating the generosity that few other countries have shown toward Syrian refugees.
"The Syrian refugees' presence in Lebanon has generated a severe burden that Lebanon is no longer able to face alone," said Salam during a joint news conference with the visiting dignitaries.
However, this move has been interpreted by Lebanese observers who are suspicious of Western agendas as an attempt to prevent the influx of Syrian refugees to Europe from increasing. An article on Al-Akhbar newspaper even suggested that Ban is trying to stop these refugees from returning to their home country at Lebanon’s expense. Furthermore, it criticized the government for celebrating the arrival of the international representatives, knowing that their policy of funding programs to handle the refugee crisis in Lebanon can only be implemented on their terms.
The article quoted a source that said: “The international community’s concern is not to find solutions for the problems of refugees in accordance with Lebanese law, but rather to keep them away from Europe which has begun to suffer as a result of this case. At the same time, keeping them away from their country and blocking them from returning before the elections in a bid to pressure the government. They are using financial incentives to market it.”
The Lebanese daily Annahar reported that Prime Minister Tammam Salam planned to reiterate Lebanon’s absolute refusal to naturalize Syrian refugees in the country. The two have met but this piece of information has not been confirmed.
The war on Syria that began in 2011 has had significant implications on neighbouring Lebanon, most notably in the form of an enormous flow of refugees. The United Nations refugee agency has registered 1.1 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon (nearly a quarter of the country's population of 4.5 million), while local authorities have raised that figure to between 1.5 and 2 million. Unlike other countries, however, Lebanon’s size, its frail economy, in addition to political instability are factors that emphasize the strain that the large number of migrants have imposed on its resources.
Hosting such a considerable number of refugees has obligated the Lebanese government to sign financial agreements. This doesn’t mean that Beirut will allow itself to be dragged into Western agendas, or be lured by big sums of money in exchange for normalizing the status of refugees. Well aware of the consequences of such a move, both domestically and internationally, Lebanese many decision-makers will allow their country to be misled into accepting such a proposal.
Ban and his companions may have been given a warm welcome upon their arrival but this doesn’t necessarily indicate that they will not leave leave empty-handed, at least politically-speaking.
