displacement

Dossier

“Reconstruction in Lebanon: Experiences and Lessons”

Lebanon, and particularly the South, Beirut, and the Bekaa, is experiencing massive destruction of its infrastructure, buildings, spaces, and social and urban fabric as a result of the recent Israeli war. This has …

Article Legal Memo

How Can I Protect My Rights as an Old Rent Tenant Amid a Suspended Law and Ongoing Crises? A Legal and Practical Guide

Are you an old rent tenant at risk of eviction? Learn how to protect your housing rights under Law No. 2/2017 and navigate Lebanon’s suspended rent system.

Study

Tripoli Under Threat: Report on the Degradation of the Built Environment and a review of Mobilizing efforts towards Housing Rights

This report investigates the systemic deterioration of buildings in Tripoli, Lebanon, tracing how historical neglect, failed state policies, and the lived experiences of residents converge to fuel an escalating housing crisis. It offers a grounded overview of the community’s movement, organizational efforts, and resilience in the face of the destruction of their housing rights.

Investigation

Housing Challenges in the Post-War Period: What Is Happening?

The recent war exposed Lebanon’s fragile housing sector, creating urgent challenges like soaring rents, lack of temporary housing, and forced displacement of vulnerable groups. Without clear policies and inclusive strategies, reconstruction risks deepening inequalities and undermining the right to secure, dignified housing.

Yearly Report

The Impact of the Israeli War on Lebanon: The Housing Crisis Worsens and Enters a New Phase

The Housing Monitor Annual Report | January 2024-January 2025

This 2024 Housing Monitor annual report examines the impact of war and political convergences on Lebanon’s housing crisis, highlighting mass displacement, rising rents, the exclusion of non-Lebanese residents, and forced evictions.

Field Watch

Incitement Before the Crime: Syrians Displaced and Homes Burned in Al-Aaqbiya

Syrian refugees in the Tariq al-Maslakh neighborhood of Al-Aaqbiyeh are facing escalating threats and attacks, leading to the forced displacement of dozens of families. Risks continue to rise amid growing incitement and official inaction.

Field Watch

Tripoli’s Municipality Demands Media Publicity in Exchange of Protecting Residents Lives

In Tripoli’s Qobbeh neighborhood, a dangerously deteriorating residential building housing 21 families faces the risk of collapse. Despite urgent warnings, the municipality has failed to intervene, stating that action will only be taken if the case becomes a matter of public concern and. gains public and media attention.

Study

Squatting Vacant Buildings: A Report on the Illegality of Evictions During the War

During the Israeli war on Lebanon, the use of vacant buildings proliferated as a prominent way to access housing due to the lack of alternatives. In an attempt to understand these practices, this report documents the legal and political tools used for evictions and eviction threats in 3 case studies in Beirut, highlighting their illegitimacy. It also calls for challenging the criminalization of squatting, particularly during war, and emphasizes the role of these practices in restoring the social value of vacant buildings.

Law Commentary

 The Reconstruction Draft Law repeats the Mistakes of the past:

Reviving destroyed villages can’t happen only through buildings

After a ceasefire was implemented in Lebanon on November 27, the Lebanese government held a special session on December 7 in the southern city of Tyre and approved a draft law for rebuilding homes destroyed by Israeli attacks, as they were before. Regardless of its immediate issues in terms of content, it appears that the proposed law does not address the previous or emerging challenges we are facing and risks repeating the mistakes of past failed reconstruction experiences.

Field Watch

 In Bir Hassan, Eviction After Displacement, Under the Pressure of Real Estate Development, and the Pretext of Protecting the Safety of Residents

After a long history of threatening families displaced by the Lebanese Civil War with eviction from a residential building in Bir Hassan under the pretext of being “illegal occupants,” and following failed negotiations, …

Narrative

Under the Bombs: who supervises the work of NGOs working with the refugees?

Amid airstrikes in southern Lebanon, Walid and his family fled Nabatieh and entered a cycle of displacement. His story sheds light on systemic failures in addressing refugee needs by both the government and refugee aid organizations in time of war.

Report

When the Emergency Plan Fails in Practice: A Critical Reading of Crisis Management

This report, produced after the ceasefire was announced, offers an evaluation and critique to the national emergency plan, highlighting its content flaws and execution failures based on field observations and the experiences of those impacted by the Israeli war.