By Matters India Reporter
Beirut: Ambassadors, members of the diplomatic corps and UN representatives were among those who on September 27 listened to a Jesuit priest presenting the findings of a path-breaking survey.
The findings, entitled ‘Journeying Together,’ were the result of a collaborative research study between Universitie Saint Joseph (USJ) and the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) MENA Region. Father Cedric Prakash, the JRS Regional Advocacy and Communications Advisor who also headed the research study, presented the findings at the Gulbenkian Auditorium in the St Joseph University of Beirut campus.
The overall goal of the study was to engage more effectively host community, refugees and others in Lebanon dealing with Syrian refugees in a constructive and mutually enriching dialogue, Father Prakash said.
The Indian priest also said the researchers hope the interactions would help bring better understanding of the refugees’ reality — their ‘brokenness’; living in a ‘fractured’ society; the uncertainty about the future; their return to their homeland — and policies, assistance projects and behaviors. “This hopefully, could ultimately ensure better conditions for refugees and thus contribute to healthier and safer communities,” he added.
The main inter-related objectives were:
• to better understand the current situation/realities of the Syrian refugees in Lebanon
• to create opportunities for synergies and collaboration among the various stakeholders, to foster continued host communities acceptance and greater empathy with the refugees
• to establish a platform through which refugees and members from the host community can express their concerns (about the future, the possibility to return to their homeland) and to provide ideas and solutions to address them
• to look at possibilities/options for re-strategizing the work of JRS both in Lebanon and possibly in Syria.
The rationale of the study included:
(a) The mandate of the 36th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus, ‘Companions on a Mission of Reconciliation and Justice’ to make our service more effective through Discernment, Collaboration and Networking ; and the Society’s process towards discernment of our Universal Priorities
(b) The call of Pope Francis to respond to the cries of the refugees and the displaced to Welcome, Protect, Promote, and Integrate refugees; the document ‘Towards the Global Compacts on Migrants and on Refugees’
(c) The vision and mission of the Jesuit Refugee Service to serve, accompany and advocate for the refugees
Father Prakash said 180 Syrian refugee families from Jbeil, Bar Elias, Burj Hammoud (in Beirut) and Balbek areas of Lebanon, participated in the survey.
As many as 71 percent of them did not feel welcome in Lebanon and have experienced some form of hostility. On the point of protection, 72 percent of the respondents did not experience it.
The key question was also on returns. An overwhelming 77 percent said that they did not want to continue living in Lebanon; of this 61 percent want to return to Syria, whereas 16 percent would like to go to another country.
Most of the remaining participants expressed helplessness and said that that they have no choice but to stay on in Lebanon. Many expressed fears about returning to Syria.
The fears included among others the condition of the situation of their homeland, whether they would get back their original lands and homes and whether they wound find jobs and facilities to educate their children.
Earlier Jesuit Father Salim Daccache, rector, Saint Joseph University of Beirut in his inaugural address highlighted the importance of studies like these and the urgent need to have a tangible framework to respond to the cries of the refugees.
In his introductory remarks, Jesuit Father Nawras Sammour, regional director, Jesuit Refugee Service (MENA) highlighted the importance of collaboration and significance of the spiritual, ethical and political dimensions of the mission of the Jesuits.
Monique Sokhan, assistant representative (Protection) from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), in her concluding remarks expressed her satisfaction at the nature and the depth of the study. She hoped that academics and humanitarian aid workers would use the findings to help better the conditions of the refugees in Lebanon and build more meaningful bridges with the host community.
Lebanon hosts more than 1 million Syrian refugees, more than a quarter of its population. Lebanon has the world’s highest share of refugees compared with its population, with around one in four people a refugee. Lebanese politicians want many refugees to back home as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has restored his rule across much of the country.
The United Nations says that conditions for returns to Syria are not yet fulfilled, more than seven years into a conflict.
Syria’s war has killed an estimated half a million people, driven some 5.6 million people out of the country and displaced around 6.6 million within it.
Many Syrians moved to the Lebanese town of Bar Elias, just 10 km from the Syrian border, doubling its population and putting pressure on services and squeezing job opportunities.
The United Nations classifies Bar Elias as one of the areas in Lebanon with the most vulnerable refugee and host communities and aid has been directed there to help Syrians and Lebanese.