From Baghdad Through Beirut: Linking Research To Policy For Iraqi Refugees In Lebanon | Research And Policy Memo #3

Research and Policy Memo #3 | May 2011
 
 
From Baghdad through Beirut: Linking Research to Policy for Iraqi Refugees in Lebanon Jihad Makhoul
A recent qualitative study investigated the experiences, living conditions, and coping mechanisms of Iraqi refugees in Lebanon. The study was an opportunity for Iraqis to talk openly about their experiences, concerns, and problems. It also explored the implications of the study’s findings on a receiving country such as Lebanon and its state policies.
According to recent estimates by the Danish Refugee Council and the United Nations Higher Council for Refugees (UNHCR), 50,000 Iraqi refugees now reside in Lebanon. Iraqi refugees who leave their homes to escape life-threatening violence and aim to seek asylum in the West must stop in a neighboring Arab country like Lebanon to prepare their resettlement papers. Many Iraqis suffer from the lack of an asylum system in Lebanon, as well as in other countries in the region, and struggle with entry requirements that are almost impossible to fulfill. Barriers to legal entry may result in them being smuggled into transit Arab countries, such as is the case for Lebanon, where many are smuggled after entering Syria legally. Once in Lebanon, or in other neighboring Arab countries, Iraqi refugees are either forced to reside in a transitory state- as illegal migrants with very limited rights- or are forced to return to back Iraq. 
Iraq, Refugees, Lebanon, Iraqi Refuges, Policy, Research

Publisher: 
Issam Fares Institute For Public Policy And International Affairs
تاريخ النشر: 
الأحد, 1 مايو 2011
نوع المورد: 
Studies and Reports
حلة: 
Refugees
randomness