Syrian Refugees in Lebanon “Smurfing” The Year 2016

(Zaman al-Wasl) “What did Smurf tell you… Didn’t Smurf bring you… He ‘smurfed’ him…. On the ‘smurfing’,” are repeated as a reference to the deceased artist Philemon Wehbe a Lebanese artist who played the role of the oblivious person whose life remains untouched by any issue happening around them; in this case related to the Syrian issue or any ongoing regional events.

Syrians from Yabroud, Qara and the remaining villages and towns of al-Qalamon, in addition to al-Qasir and its countryside where forced to migrate to the only accessible neighbor, Lebanon as it borders the al-Qalamon Mountain. Syrians have been forced to pay an orange bill for their “smurfing” against the Hezbollah militia, and for those crossing from Lebanon to attack the villages and towns of Homs and Damascus’ countryside. 

Abu Imad al-Qari, an activist among the Syrian refugees in the town of Arsal said, “The people of Arsal have not spared any effort to welcome and protect us. They have provided us with what we needed within the available capabilities. They have shared blood drenched bread with us, and this we will never forget as long as we live.”

He added to Zaman al-Wasl, that the residents of the border town made a lot of effort to complement the associations and organizations working in aid to provide what will help Syrian refugees endure the hardships of exile.

Al-Qari accuses the Hezbollah militia of spreading corruption and terror in the Syrian camps in Arsal where the militia members refer to everyone as either belonging to Daesh or al-Nursa Front. Even women, children and elderly people among the refugee camps in Arsal are not excepted from these blanket accusations. 

According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and Amnesty International, the number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon for 2016 reached 1 million 70,000 Syrians. around 100,000 of then living in the border town of Arsal dispersed to 124 camps. 

They live in around 5000 tents in the border from the areas of “Al-Qasir, Qara, Yabroud, Flitah, Jarjir, Bakhah, Aasal al-Ward, Ras al-Ayn, and Maara Yabroud.” In addition to several residents from the neighborhoods of Bab Amr, al-Khaldiyeh, and Kafr Aaya in Homs. 

The Curse of the Wilderness

The curse of the wilderness almost seems to follow Syrians in all aspects of their life according to al-Qari. He added, “The curse increased the brutality and harassment of Syrian refugees in Arsal after the events that struck the town in August 2014 when al-Nusra Front managing to take hostage several members of the Lebanese army and take them to the wilderness bordering on the village. Al-Nusra Front later on released the 16 soldiers in a prisoner exchange agreement that happened with the Lebanese Army on 1 December 2015 under Qatari sponsorship.”

The curse appeared as the Lebanese Army, following Hezbollah’s politics, began to harass Syrian refugees in Arsal on the accusation they are Daesh or al-Nusra Front members or supporters. The Lebanese Army established checkpoints, barricades, and set up heavy weapons at the entrances and exit of the town, isolating it from its surroundings. They also increased their storming campaigns on the Syrian camps to arrest hundreds of Syrians. 

Abu Imad adds, “Despite all the efforts put to complete the Syrian camps in Arsal, but these camps although important, will not succeed in protecting our families and children from the winter snow or the rains of this wilderness. We know the harshness of nature here. And can you image children in a tent at 1600 meters above sea level living in low temperatures, so what tent and what similar structure can withstand the storms and snow, and what is our fate now?”

Education and Healthcare

The activist Abu Imad spoke about the reality of the medical services saying, “There are nine medical associations working in the town, but they all lack an operating room or medical equipment such as a CT scanner or a MRI apparatus. 

They are closer to emergency medical points than to hospitals for treatment.”

Regarding education for Syrians in the town, it is not much better than the healthcare situation. There are 11 schools to teach Syrian students which include around 10,000 students of different age groups and classes, and around 847 teachers, but these facilities still lack the basic necessities to guarantee continuity such as salaries, text books and other things.

The lack is due to the absence of sponsors, support is based on individual sources and limited area initiatives which provide support for schools in their own way.

Abu Imad concludes, “It is not possible to do more, but we fear that the situation will be exacerbated in the coming days, and we do not place the responsibility on the Lebanese government or international organizations, but the main and only person responsible is the tyrant Bashar al-Assad and with him Hezbollah.

They are fully responsible for all our tragedies, our martyrs and our wounded, for the sickness of our children and women, our hunger and displacement, the destruction of our homes, and our right to live with dignity. Despite this we will not give in and we will remain a thorn in al-Assad and his allies’ eyes.”

In this tragic reality experienced by hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees living in a situation of security, economic, social, and health siege, many residents of Arsal who monitor the displaced people’s situations, warn of the possibility of health or nutritional catastrophes with the coming of winter months and the waves of snow and frost on Syrian camps. 

They called on the concerned Lebanese and international actors to take the necessary precautionary measures to help the refugees in maintaining their and their families’ dignity especially as the current reality in the camps cannot be described as anything other than miserable, isolated, and negligent, according to the refugees living there. 

With the dawn of every sun, Syrian refugees in Lebanese wait the arrival of a UN or Arab smurf to remove them from the reality of their isolated besieged camps. 

They await the smurf with injured tongues and in an injured condition saying: 

What didn’t Smurf tell you?

Didn’t Smurf bring you?

He ‘smurfed’ him… On the ‘smurfing.’