In a refugee camp in Lebanon's Beqaa valley, tents made of what looks like garbage have become a central part of the overall picture of the area over the past seven years. Some families have demolished their temporary homes and returned to their homeland, leaving wastelands in the refugee camp.
BEQAA (Lebanon) (Pakistan Point news / Sputnik - 27th August, 2018) In a refugee camp in Lebanon's Beqaa valley, tents made of what looks like garbage have become a central part of the overall picture of the area over the past seven years. Some families have demolished their temporary homes and returned to their homeland, leaving wastelands in the refugee camp.
A Sputnik correspondent talked to refugees to find out who was willing to return to Syria from Lebanon after peace and quiet had been restored in their villages and settlements.
LEBANON CANNOT ACCOMMODATE EVERYONE
Lebanon has hosted more than 2 million refugees since 2011. By May 2015, there was no room left for new guests in the small Mediterranean country. The country's government put in place entry restrictions for Syrians and, together with the United Nations, stopped registering refugees. Many refugees have left Lebanon over the last three years; some went to Europe in the pursuit of a better life, while others returned home. According to the United Nations, less than a million Syrian refugees live in "Switzerland of the East," which was what Lebanon was called up until 1970s.
Syrians have spread across the cities and villages of Lebanon. Many of them are stuck in improvised camps in the Beqaa valley, an area close to Syria, with the hope that they would be coming home soon.
Tens of thousands of Syrians live in the second largest city in Beqaa valley Qob Elias. Everyone has their own history and reasons for either returning home or staying in Lebanon forever.
We meet Zafir in the city of Chtoura. The energetic Lebanese described himself as a public figure, an activist from Qob Elias, who helped people on the most difficult issue the return of former militants and their families to their homeland upon the condition that their security and amnesty are guaranteed under the decree of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
"I do not belong to any of the parties. I have a powerful family name and there are some possibilities. My friends and I are coordinating with the Syrian security services and representatives from Russia. It's very simple, we make a list of all those who want to return to Syria from among the militants and all those who were somehow connected with the armed opposition but realized they were wrong, and were now ready to work and live peacefully at home," Zafir said as he invited us to a roadside bakery to have breakfast with cheese tortillas, zaatar (a mixture of herbs with sesame seeds) and freshly cooked meat.
Zafir was well-known in this area, evident by the fact that dozens of people passing by greeted him.
The activist himself was friendly. He said that he had decided not to wait for big political decisions and had come up with his own plan for motivating Syrians to return.
"I have a company, construction equipment. After the liberation of settlements in the province of Damascus, we take orders to clean construction waste, dismantle destroyed houses, take out pieces of concrete and sand to a special place. Those who have returned from Lebanon are working for me in Syria. Therefore, as they return home, they are confident that they have a job, which means that they are able to feed families this is an alternative to the idea of taking up arms again to make the few Dollars they were offered before," Zafir said.
A "well-off" tent made of garbage stood at the entrance to the largest camp in Qob Elias. It has four rooms and a kitchen. About seven people four families live in each room, which have floors made of cardboard. Two women sat in the yard on the ground, barefoot, with tanned kids of all ages running around them. food is very limited and nursing mothers also have to work in the fields to feed their families.
"Yes, the conditions are not the best. We are from Homs and we worked on farms all our lives. Our family has not been home since 2011. But our situation is good. We work here, I have documents and already been home to assess the situation. We came here on the eve of war to earn money and stayed. Now we are waiting for our turn to return home," a woman with a child in her arms told Sputnik.
The woman's husband explained that the Lebanese visas for his entire family, except his wife, had expired, and they had to pay a fine exceeding $1,000 in total, which was a lot of money to the residents of the camps. Therefore, they could not leave Lebanon by themselves.
The Lebanese General Security has decided to write off fines for all Syrians who return home in an organized manner.
Riding from camp to camp, Zafir offered to stop to talk to Syrians who owned stores and butcher shops in the city. They lived in apartments and were considered to be wealthy refugees.
Zafir lost count of the shops that belonged to Syrians. There were more shops owned by Syrians than dukans ("shops" in Arabic) with Lebanese owners.
As it turned out, this could be explained quite simply Lebanese businessmen were very clever. Instead of starting businesses, it was more profitable to rent out spaces to refugees. Local authorities exempted Syrians from taxes and payments for light and water in a bid to provide them support. The Lebanese, in turn, found it more profitable to simply receive rent every month.
An employee of the candy store categorically refused to pose for the camera and talk on the record. He said he loves Syria and dreamed of returning home as soon as he and his family were guaranteed security.
The behavior of this Syrian was not surprising, since only a few years ago, he was in an opposition group through which militants financed the so-called Free Syrian Army. Today, there was no money and no one to finance.
An elderly man from the southern province of Daraa, which quite recently was released from terrorists, could be found in the next shop with fruits and vegetables. Abu Omran has never been associated with militants. The people working with Zafir in Syria also confirmed this fact.
"Yes, things here are going well, the trade is good. But we want to go home. The other day, my brother went to see the state of our house. We will assess the situation and, God willing, we will come back in the coming months. We have nothing to fear, we are ordinary Syrians who fled the war and did not sit in the camps on UN handouts, we figured out how to make a living," Abu Omran said, offering us to try apples from his counter.
Ordinary refugees live in another camp. They are not members of militants' families or people who came to Lebanon to work, they are Syrians from Aleppo, Homs, Damascus and Hama just a little more than a hundred families.
Tents were spread out on the edges of the territory. You could freely play football in the center of the camp. Just a few days ago, dozens of families, with joint coordination between Lebanon and Syria, took down their tents made of polyethylene, cardboard and wooden beams, threw them to the nearest dump and went to their native villages.
"How do we live here? Every year it gets worse! International organizations from the UN bring us water once a month, and it is enough for four days; the rest of the time we buy water ourselves. Septic tanks get full every four or five days. It is bearable during the summer, but in fall and spring we can swim, I apologize, in our own waste until they send us a pumping. Lebanese locals have helped us a lot from the very beginning, for example, Zafir's family and many others. Otherwise, we would face certain death from starvation and unsanitary conditions. Is that the truth that you wanted to hear?" a desperate camp elder told us, inviting us to see everything for ourselves.
At this point, a tractor with a tank of fresh water had just arrived at the cam � it was ordered in the morning. Children met the water truck as if it was Santa Claus coming with Christmas gifts. The kind tractor driver arranged some fun for the children, watering them from head to toe. The kids' delighted screaming brought smiles to the faces of their parents.
It was so hot that throwing oneself under the stream of cold water along with the children was an inviting idea.
"Make sure to remember what you see. These kids do not ask for a chocolate cake or a phone on their birthdays. Many of them do not know life outside the camp. These cardboard tents, a candy and fresh water are the only joy of their existence. We want and we will return home, so that they have everything that they deserve," the elder added.
Zafir held a list of 3,000 former militants and their families. These 174 "rebels" received amnesty and already returned home in July with help from Russia. A list of Names of several hundred people who have passed the verification checks should be sent from Syria soon.
The Lebanese government, after consultations with representatives of the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Defense, has taken real action to help everyone who wants to return to Syria. Local authorities manage a census of refugees and compile lists in almost all settlements in Lebanon. Assistance is provided, first and foremost, to the residents of the camps in the Beqaa valley and Shebaa in southern Lebanon.
The Lebanese authorities plan to send another group of Syrians home in late August.
The repatriation process, according to the refugees themselves and those who help them, can take months or even years.
However, the success of the Syrian army, Russia's assistance and the liberation of most of the country from terrorists have given hope to Syrians, who just a few years ago thought of their homeland as something that was lost forever.
