(Zaman Al Wasl)- Residents of Miziara town in northern Lebanon have expelled dozens of Syrian refugees over a crime committed against a 26-year-old girl by Syrian concierge on Sep 22.
Local residents staged a sit-in in front of the municipal building and the municipality hastened to pass a decision to evict all Syrian refugees living in the town. Syrian refugees living in Miziara faced a new round of displacement no less harsh than their forced displacement from their country.
The municipality has permitted to evict all Syrian refugees, who number around one thousand refugees. One of the refugees, who has been forced to leave the town, said that some young men from nearby villages, members of the municipalities and others went around the town in four-wheel drive cars raiding houses where Syrian refugees were living.
The campaign has targeted houses of young refugees, insulting them and threatening them that must leave Miziara before 7 am the following morning or they would be beaten and evicted by force. some of them tried to leave the town in the early morning only to be stopped by locals on the pretext they were leaving too early.
Many of the families that were forced to leave are now living with other families, or family members have been forced to separate temporarily. Syrian refugees who were living in Miziara moved to villages and towns in Deir Nbouh, al-Fouar, al-Danniyeh, Bekaa, Zagharta and Tripoli. Most of those who do not have relatives or acquaintances in those areas moved to villages around Miziara, but threats follow them as the village of Miziara provides the surrounding villages with water, and it is using this to pressure the villages to evict the Syrian refugees who moved there.
Mohammed al-Qasab, a Syrian activist, advised Syrian refugees in Miziara to leave the town to preserve their lives and for fear of retaliation and revenge. He added, “especially in a community like the Christian community.”
Al-Qasab added that “what happened has affected refugees in all of Lebanon and not only the refugees in Miziara, and it is unfortunate that an individual’s error leads to collective punishment for people who have nothing to do with the issue.” (Reporting by Faris al-Rifai)
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