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Abstract
Based on qualitative fieldwork in the Sunni village of Bebnine, located between Tripoli and the northern Syrian border, this paper explores how displaced Syrians adjust to life in Lebanon under the threat and actuality of violence. The marginalised refugees do not only appear as passive victims of crisis but draw on a diverse repertoire of coping strategies to deal with displacement and dispossession. Self-settled Syrians have exploited social networks, savings, aid, education and work opportunities to create a new livelihood system for themselves. Nevertheless, everyday life in Lebanon is not conceptualised as a safe zone. Syrian refugees are increasingly being used as scapegoats for the poor economy and political challenges in the country. While practices of hospitality towards the Syrian refugees were widespread, ambivalent feelings and prejudice frequently surfaced. Refugees expressed concern that the Syrian civil war would escalate into further sectarian violence in Lebanon, pushing the country closer to war.
Notes
1. The term refugee is here used to define a person who has been forced to leave and live outside their country of nationality because of fear, threat, violence or persecution and war. UNHCR, “Facts and Resources.”
2. As of 6 May 2015 UNHCR Lebanon has temporarily suspended new registrations as per the Lebanese government’s instructions. Accordingly, individuals waiting to be registered are no longer included in the statistics.
4. MSF, “Fleeing the Violence in Syria”; and ICG, Too Close for Comfort.
5. The interviews were conducted by Mona Christophersen and the author on behalf of Fafo Institute for Applied International Studies.
6. Fafo Institute for Applied International Studies was founded by the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) in 1982 and became an independent foundation in 1993. The poll results are available at http://www.fafo.no/images/pub/2013/10179.pdf.
7. Chalcraft. The Invisible Cage, 47–50.
8. Knudsen and Kerr, Lebanon.
9. Shaheen, “Isis claims Responsibility.”
10. Barnard, “By inserting itself into Syrian War.”
11. Mouchref, “Forgotten Akkar.”
12. Interview with male Syrian refugee, Bebnine, May 1, 2013.
13. Interview with female Syrian refugee, Bebnine, May 1, 2013.
14. Newby, “Collective Historical Memory.”
15. Snel and Starting, “Poverty, Migration, and Coping Strategies,” 10–11.
16. Kullab and Anderson, “Refugee Influx strains Host Communities.”
17. Interview with female Syrian refugee, Bebnine, May 2, 2013.
18. Grosz-Ngaté, “Hidden Meanings,” 168.
19. http:// data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/country.php?id=122.
20. Hodgson and McCurdy,‘Wicked’ Women.
21. Chalcraft, The Invisible Cage.
22. Das and Davidson, Profiles of Poverty.
23. “The Brunt of the Syrian Conflict.”
24. Still, Derrida and Hospitality, 13.
25. Christophersen et al., “Lebanese Attitudes towards Syrian Refugees.”
26. Interview with a Lebanese man, Bebnine, May 1, 2013.
27. Interview with local leader in Bebnine, May 1, 2013.
28. Brubaker et al., Nationalist Politics and Everyday Ethnicity.
29. Chalcraft, The Invisible Cage.
30. Interview with a Syrian man , Bebnine, May 4, 2013.
31. Hutchinson and Dorsett, What does the Literature Say?
32. Interview with a Syrian woman, Bebnine, May 4, 2013.
33. Interview with a Syrian woman, Bebnine, May 6, 2013.
