In late September, employees from the municipality of Baysour paid the village residents a visit, inquiring about their personal information, and informing them that they had one week to pay the sum of 4 million Lebanese liras, an annual fee, for services provided by the municipality. It later became clear that the fees were exclusively imposed upon Syrian residents, under threat of deportation should they refuse or fail to pay within the given deadline. This decision follows in the footsteps of many municipal decisions which, under the pretext of conducting a census of the Syrian refugees on Lebanese territories and organizing their residency as per the Ministry of Interior’s letters, imposed arbitrary and discriminatory measures that limited the refugees’ enjoyment of their right as citizens, especially the right to housing, leading in many instances to their eviction and further displacement.
In this article, we examine the circumstances and events that surrounded the making of the municipal decision, as we tackle the numerous legal violations committed during its issuance, communication, and implementation, as we reflect on the real motivations that drove the municipality of Baysour to take such a decision.
Read the full article in Arabic here.
