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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran | |||||
| HRW Says Palestinians Fleeing Syria Stranded at Lebanon Border | |||||
| 2013-08-09 | |||||
"The Lebanese government began on August 6, 2013, to bar Paleostinians from entering the country from Syria," New York-based Human Rights Watch ... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world... said. "Refusing to allow asylum seekers to enter the country violates Leb's international obligations."
From August 6, it appears "the only Paleostinians allowed to enter Leb were Paleostinians with Lebanese wives or mothers, or who had plane tickets to leave Beirut that day," HRW said. It said there has been no public announcement of a change in policy. HRW said that under international law Leb must abide by the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits sending people back to places where their lives or freedom are threatened. Syria is home to some 500,000 Paleostinians. Many lived in Yarmouk in southern Damascus, a district that has been torn apart by shelling, rendering much of it uninhabitable, residents say.
Leb had been granting Paleostinians coming from Syria a seven-day renewable visa. "We dealt with the Paleostinian situation from a humanitarian point of view," said the source, adding that Leb "is not a country of asylum." "They should not be coming here. Their files are with the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Syria, not in Leb," he said of the agency tasked with registering and aiding those whose ascendants fled historic Paleostine. The source also said Leb "has been promised help by the international community to deal with the influx. That help didn't come."
U.N. and other humanitarian agencies say there has been a major funding shortfall to help mitigate the impact of the refugee crisis. "While the Lebanese government, like those of other neighboring countries, is struggling to meet the needs of the growing refugee population, closing the border is no answer," said HRW deputy Middle East director Joe Stork. On July 26, the U.N. refugee agency said it is negotiating with Leb over the country's plan to enforce new border controls that could affect the flow of Syrian refugees. "We will continue to engage with (the authorities) to ensure that refugees in need of protection will have access to Leb but also that the legitimate security concerns of the government are respected and observed," said Ninette Kelley, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees representative in Beirut. Her statement came three days after the government announced new entry controls. Several ministers insisted that the new rules would not close the border to refugees fleeing Syria. But they said that in the future they would recognize as refugees only those fleeing parts of Syria that have been wracked by violence. "In order not to allow people with terrorist ties or other security problems to take advantage of the humanitarian situation, we are now being stricter and ensuring that only people with a valid ID or passport are allowed in," a General Security source told AFP in the wake of the decision. The U.N. Development Program's Luca Renda has also warned of a range of problems in communities in Leb that are hosting refugees. "Competition for jobs, crowding of services, scarcity of drinking water, pressure on waste collection, issues of sanitation (and) increasing tensions between communities," he said. | |||||
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #9 Source for 'Eating worms' children song... IIRC, that was the song I was looking up... ;) |
| Posted by: magpie 2013-08-09 17:10 |
| #8 "HRW Says Palestinians Fleeing Syria Stranded at Lebanon Border" And their point is ....? |
| Posted by: Barbara 2013-08-09 13:35 |
| #7 HRW has conveniently ignored others failure to live up to obligations to Leb. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2013-08-09 12:55 |
| #6 From your mouth to the ear of G*d, Pater. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2013-08-09 12:48 |
| #5 More likely he'll ask Jordan. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2013-08-09 12:39 |
| #4 Just had a horrible thought --- would Kerry ask Israel to take them? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2013-08-09 11:44 |
| #3 That headline has a trifecta which can only be topped with a sewage flood. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2013-08-09 11:32 |
| #2 TW, I remember that song: "Nobody loves me Everybody hates me Guess I'll go eat worms. First one's greasy Goes down easy Second one trie to run away Third one busted....." |
| Posted by: AlanC 2013-08-09 07:41 |
| #1 So they (Lebanese) can learn! |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2013-08-09 04:54 |