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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Discontent in Syria as more neighbours drop in |
| 2006-07-25 |
| WITH the number of Lebanese refugees who have crossed into Syria now estimated at more than 120,000, and increasing by the day, many Syrians are privately expressing concern about the potential economic effects on their country. While wealthier and better-connected Lebanese are staying in hotels or with relatives, and planning to travel on to other countries, tens of thousands are staying with volunteer hosts or finding space in schools or mosques. Although Syrian officials are publicly pledging solidarity with the "Lebanese national resistance", as the Lebanese militia Hezbollah is called in the state-run media, and vowing to aid the Lebanese refugees for as long as the fighting in Lebanon continues, for many Syrians the Lebanese arrivals are a new and unexpected burden. Syria, a country of 19 million, is already home to about 420,000 Palestinian refugees, according to the United Nations. Since the American invasion of Iraq in 2003, Syria has also taken in about 1 million Iraqi refugees, according to Syrian Government figures. It is not geography alone that makes Syria a natural destination. Baathist-led Syria, the last bastion of pan-Arabism in the Middle East, allows the citizens of any Arab country to enter without visas, and to settle permanently. Syrian officials even avoid the word "refugee", preferring to talk about the Lebanese as fellow members of a greater Arab nation. Despite this, many Syrians say tensions are rising; that refugees are driving up the costs of housing and food, and there is a popular perception that they are contributing to a rising crime rate. Heh |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #19 Israel's secret weapon: nobody wants the Paleos. By the way, I have met Syrian-Americans who would be insulted to be referred to as an Arab. |
| Posted by: Griper Whegum8464 2006-07-25 22:27 |
| #18 It is never wrong to call for the proprieties to be observed, kelly dear. Warmed me right down to the cockles of me 'eart, it did indeed! ;-) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-07-25 20:01 |
| #17 Uh huh....that certainly clears that up. I could have been wrong about the need for a visa. |
| Posted by: kelly 2006-07-25 18:12 |
| #16 After reading this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alawi it is quite evident that mainstream shia hate alawites. |
| Posted by: JFM 2006-07-25 18:10 |
| #15 Not that simple. AFAIK Alwaites are very liberal in things such as alcohol or treatment of women. Shia or not Shia I don't think there is that much sympathy between them and orthodox shiites a la Khomeini. BTW I think the ones are part of 7 imams Shiism and the others from 12 imams Shiism. Ie the 7 imam people consider the 12 imap people as heretics for admiitinbg 5 false imams while the 12 imams people despise the 7 imam people for not accepting the 5 additional imams. |
| Posted by: JFM 2006-07-25 18:04 |
| #14 They simply will have to return to Lebanon, get a temporary visa, and then get at the back of the line. The proprietaries must be obsevered at all times |
| Posted by: kelly 2006-07-25 17:44 |
| #13 Tell us about it. /Houston |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2006-07-25 17:16 |
| #12 And this is a problem, because...? Hey, when you sh*t in your messkit, sometimes you get splashed. Syria figured that Hiz would take a few IDF hostages, some tit for tat, and that would be it. They did not reckon that Israel would have had enough and started to kick Hiz from here to Sunday. Got to think this stuff through before you help it out. Get all the refugees routed to Syria. Where in blazes is Barbara Scolaut? Ima got a powerful hunger for buttered popcorn. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2006-07-25 16:40 |
| #11 And I thought I had problems when my wife's relatives stay at our place. |
| Posted by: Perfesser 2006-07-25 16:39 |
| #10 Considering that the majority of refugees coming from Lebanon are likley Shia leaning Hezbollah types, the Syrian Alawite/Shia government is probably releived to have some more backers. The waves of Sunni from Iraq were more likely to destabalize the Syrian goverenment. The economic impact although from both parties will be hard felt by the Syrian people but then that is the love of Dictators the pain of the people is really irrelevent. |
| Posted by: C-Low 2006-07-25 16:14 |
| #9 Shouldn't we, y'know, be printing up comic books to explain how to sneak into Syria "safely"? |
| Posted by: mojo 2006-07-25 15:42 |
| #8 "Pre-Legal" aliens, Darth. The term is "Pre-Legal". Just so you know............. |
| Posted by: Mullah Richard 2006-07-25 15:20 |
| #7 " If the refugees stay there, there is going to be a sectarian war. " IF the refugees are Shia, AND they stay there, they will be reinforcements for the regime in any sectarian war. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2006-07-25 14:53 |
| #6 The Lebanese should stay for 29 years . . . just until Syria stabilizes. |
| Posted by: Tibor 2006-07-25 14:29 |
| #5 Crime rate should be the least of Syria's concern. If the refugees stay there, there is going to be a sectarian war. Popcorn please. It's ironic that the very thing Syria wanted to export, they just imported it. Good luck and Good night. |
| Posted by: Poison Reverse 2006-07-25 14:14 |
| #4 Not Refugees. Undocumented aliens. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2006-07-25 14:12 |
| #3 and there is a popular perception that they are contributing to a rising crime rate. Since a number of them are Palestinians from the Ein el Hilweh refugee camp, I have no doubt that the crime rate is rising significantly. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-07-25 14:08 |
| #2 I'd wager anyone running to Syria considers them a "friend" rather than a "former occupier". Can you say "purge"? |
| Posted by: Steve 2006-07-25 14:07 |
| #1 Destroy the Syrian economy? Rove isn't even this smart (or is he?....) |
| Posted by: Mullah Richard 2006-07-25 13:57 |