We publish the Housing Monitor’s periodic report in the context of an unprecedented xenophobic campaign launched by the state and its parties to displace Syrian refugees, as state security, in cooperation with governors and mayors in several areas in Lebanon, continues to implement arbitrary measures against Syrian refugees, through individual and collective forced evictions under the pretext of “illegal residence.”

During the period between January 1 and July 14, the Housing Monitor received 148 reports, 61% of which were from Syrian residents. Reports increased, especially in the period following the killing of the Lebanese Forces coordinator in Jbeil, Pascal Sleiman, on April 7, 2024. The repercussions of this incident were enormous for Syrian refugees, as the first week witnessed an escalation in discrimination campaigns and threats of eviction by municipalities and security forces, in addition to ongoing political and media incitement campaigns. The most prominent of these was the issuance by several local authorities of discriminatory circulars asking citizens to report Syrian individuals residing within their jurisdiction to verify their identity documents and threaten to evict them. As a result, since 7 April, the Housing Monitor received a wave of reports of eviction from Syrians amounting to 74 reports, or the equivalent of 85% of total reports. These included collective threats (41 out of 74) thus the total number of families affected since April 7 reached at least 380 families and the number of individuals affected by the eviction reached at least 2,500 people.

Public Works documented these practices and threats reported by residents. In this report, we provide an analysis of them, in addition to their geographical distribution, their relationship to the circulars issued by local authorities, the form of eviction (individual or collective), and the deadlines granted to implement the eviction. In light of this information and the map that results from it, we present ten conclusions that we hope will contribute to formulating an informed demand in the face of the authorities’ discourse and practices, clarifying and consolidating basic rights.