The blame game over shelter responsibilities is playing out in a car parking in Saida

For over a month, approximately 700 Syrian refugees, displaced from southern Lebanon due to Israeli airstrikes, have been living in a parking lot in Saida City. Their decision to seek refuge there was a result of being denied access to official shelters or being evicted from them. This situation is a direct consequence of broken promises by the UNHCR and the buck-passing among relevant authorities, according to both the displaced and local residents. However, the root cause lies in the systemic exclusion of all non-Lebanese from government emergency and shelter plans.

The displaced Syrians remained stranded in the parking lot for a long period without any alternative. The situation came to a head after mid-October when the parking owner, Mohammed Zeidan, demanded that the municipality evict them. The influence of the property owner and the sanctity of individual property were the sole driving forces behind the officials’ taking action. The municipality, reluctant to confront Zeidan, a powerful businessman, deferred the decision to the governor of the South. Ultimately, the governor ordered the eviction of all displaced from the parking lot suggesting they go to shelters recently opened by Offre Joie NGO in Beirut.

With these shelters being mentioned repeatedly in every recent eviction, such as the one that took place on Ramlet el-Bayda, serious questions arise about the fate of these displaced communities. Are they actually being transferred to these shelters? Can these shelters accommodate all of them and receive them without discrimination? Or is the mention of these shelters merely an excuse to justify the forced evictions of Syrians, as part of an ongoing systematic campaign by the Lebanese authorities to expel and deport them?

What happened in Saida clearly shows how war and the displacement crisis are exploited to achieve narrow political interests. At a time when people are facing the threat of death, it is imperative, in addition to demanding that the relevant international parties assume their responsibilities, to review and update government plans so that access to housing and shelters is not restricted. Concrete measures must be taken to ensure that Lebanese and non-Lebanese displaced persons receive shelter and life-saving assistance without discrimination.

Read the full Field watch in Arabic.