The Syrian Refugee Crisis in Lebanon

Abstract

Since its beginning in 2011, the Syrian conflict generated one of the greatest humanitarian catastrophes of the 21st century, namely the Syrian refugee crisis. This crisis mainly affected Syria’s direct neighbours. However, unlike Turkey or Jordan, the case of Lebanon is peculiar – due to its size and unique socio-religious character –, and it is worth a case study. In fact, with around 1.5 million refugees, the country has the highest rate of refugees per capita in the world. This study aims to present all the aspects and issues related to the refugees’ presence in this country. In a first part, this article presents the multiple aspects of this long-lasting crisis. Then it shows the local and international actions undertaken by the country’s different actors, and investigates how their motives relate to the fragility of the Lebanese sectarian demographic balance. Finally, it pictures the daily life of the refugees, reflecting on the empirical observations made by the author during his fieldwork trips to Lebanon.