Norwegian Refugee Council says 'positive turn' for refugees in Lebanon

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by ANSA -- Lebanon has the highest number of refugees per capita in the world, hosting nearly 1.5 million refugees. In September 2017 at the UN General Assembly, Lebanese President Michel Aoun called for commencing returns of refugees from Syria without the need to ensure that returns were voluntary. "We, and virtually everybody else in the international community, maintain that the returns must be voluntary," said Mike Bruce, NRC's advocacy and information adviser in Lebanon. In addition, the organization said that since the Lebanese government does not allow formal refugee camps, Syrian refugees settle in informal settlements or find private accommodation. "Over 76 per cent of Syrians live below the national poverty line," NRC said. In 2017, there was an increase in unlawful evictions of Syrians living in Lebanese towns, evictions which NRC said "have severe impact on the lives of the affected Syrian refugees."

"Positive turn" in 2018

"In 2018, we have seen a positive turn," NRC said. "The negative rhetoric has subsided and there have been fewer evictions"."This year, the political dialogue has been much more moderate towards refugees and return," Bruce said. The organization said conditions remain difficult for refugees, however, as 74% of all Syrian refugees in Lebanon do not have legal residency and lack identification documents, risking arrest and detention. It said some have even dropped out of school out of fear of being arrested while travelling to school. Though struggles to obtain legal residency continue for refugees, NRC said a positive development is that the government of Lebanon has recently made an effort to improve the legal situation for newborn Syrians and Syrian youth. Previously, parents had to register their newborn babies within a 12-month timeframe to receive identity documents, but in March 2018, this deadline was lifted for refugees from Syria. Additionally, the government recently changed regulations to permit some Syrian youth aged 15 to 18 to obtain temporary residency, including youth who lack legal identity documents. "These changes are all extremely positive, and very bold moves by the government of Lebanon," says Bruce.

Lebanese Leaders Say Any Land Talks With Israel Must Include Maritime 'Energy Block 9'

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by the daily star.com.lb -- Lebanon’s top officials discussed a response to an Israeli proposal to solve a land dispute between the two states, with Beirut saying it wants any talks to include the maritime borders as well. “Israel wants to discuss only the land borders while Lebanon wants that, in addition to Block 9,” a political source said. Block 9 is an energy block containing potential offshore oil and gas reserves, part of which has been claimed by Israel. Lebanon, which views Israel as an enemy, has an unresolved maritime border dispute with its neighbor over a triangular area of sea of around 860 square kilometers. The zone extends along the edge of three of the five offshore energy blocks that Lebanon put to tender early last year. Block 9 is 1,700 square kilometers in size, of which 145-148 square kilometers are disputed.

Israel sent the proposal to Lebanon via UNIFIL and President Michel Aoun called for a meeting with Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri and Speaker Nabih Berri to discuss a response. “Their [the Lebanese leaders’] message is clear that they will not accept negotiations without including Block 9,” the political source added. General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim is leading on Lebanon’s position and the Lebanese Army officials that partake in the tripartite meetings between Lebanon and Israel headed by UNIFIL report back to him. Few details of the meeting were revealed by attendees, however. Berri confirmed the talks touched on the border demarcations without going into further details. Hariri spoke to reporters, saying, “We are trying to be positive in working toward making progress with regards to the land and maritime border demarcations, and this meeting took place at the request of President Aoun to unify our thoughts and a decision to this topic.”

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'Largest-ever' Lebanese hashish haul fills entire football field

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by Joseph Haboush Josie Ensor, beirut --Telegraph-- Lebanese security forces have made the country’s biggest-ever drugs bust after confiscating 15 tonnes of hashish, which had been prepped to be shipped abroad. Pictures of the haul shared online showed thousands of packets of drugs lined up to fill an entire football field. “This is the biggest bust in the history of Lebanon with regards to drugs produced and prepared to be sold,” a Internal Security Forces (ISF) source told The Telegraph. A video showed security forces raiding a warehouse in southern Beirut where paint buckets were filled with the cannabis-products. The labels on the buckets belonged to a paint factory that was not related to the smuggling operation, according to an ISF statement.

Major General Imad Othman, the head of the ISF, said seven people had been arrested, including a Customs employee. “The drugs were set to leave Lebanon and go to Libya and then to Egypt, but we don’t know what the final destination was yet,” Gen Othman said. Last year, the Lebanese Army raided three of the homes owned by Ali Nasri Shamas, a notorious drug lord, where they found 4.5 kilograms of cocaine and 14.5 kilograms of hashish. It is unclear what the ISF plans to do with the latest haul, but in the past Lebanese security has burned crops of cannabis. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has ranked Lebanon in as one of the world’s top five sources of cannabis resin. Much of it is produced in the futile Bekaa region in the east. The cultivation of cannabis itself was forbidden in 1992, under pressure from the United States. However, large amounts are grown within the country, and personal use as long as not in public is not a major issue.

Several Parliament Blocs Request Copy of ‘Controversial’ Naturalization Decree

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by Source Naharnet -- Several parliamentary blocs dismayed by a decree reportedly signed by President Michel Aoun granting Lebanese citizenship to foreigners, have headed to the Interior Ministry on Monday to request a copy of the decree. A Kataeb delegation led by MP Nadim Gemayel said after leaving the ministry that Kataeb is requesting a copy to get acquainted with the names listed under that decree, in light of the “ambiguity” surrounding the issue, said Gemayel. He raised concerns over “secrecy revolving the matter,” adding that “some names are listed on the Interpol regulations which may expose the banking sector to serious US or European penalties.” But, MTV station said none of the blocs “received a copy as requested." A Lebanese Forces delegation and another of the Progressive Socialist party also headed to the ministry for the same purpose. Reports emerged lately saying that President Michel Aoun has signed the controversial decree one day before the government turned to its caretaker capacity. The law grants citizenship to some 300 people mostly including names of Syrian figures close to Syrian President Bashar Assad who are also subject to US financial sanctions, to Palestinians, Western and Gulf businessmen, as well as a number of stateless applicants. The decree has provoked criticism, especially since it will be issued by a caretaker government, and for including names reportedly close to the Syrian regime.

Hezbollah derives its clout from outside the Lebanese state

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This article does not necessarily represent khazen.org 

by Ali al-Amin -- thearabweekly.com -- In Lebanon, having a partisan bloc in parliament twice the size of Hezbollah’s bloc does not necessarily mean that group’s share in decision-making is commensurate with its size. Hezbollah has no more than 15 members of parliament but nobody in Lebanon doubts the party is the ultimate decision-maker in the government and parliament. The strength of Hezbollah comes from outside the framework of state institutions. The state in Lebanon is the party’s weakest leg. A mini-state within the state, Hezbollah has more power even though it does not draw that power from any democratic process. It draws its power from military and security considerations and imposes it on the state and its institutions in a model of power legitimacy never before seen in normal countries, be they democratic or dictatorial. For this model of power legitimacy to continue in Lebanon, other forces in the country must at least have formal representation in parliament. This representation is just a formality and is not meant to lead to effective participation in the management of public affairs. Surely these forces can have a say in minor side issues but they cannot touch the major political issues, such as those related to security, foreign policy and war.

Participation by the other political forces in Lebanon is limited to deciding matters that are not related to state sovereignty, including agreeing on each party’s share of public offices or providing services. All parties are equally engaged in corruption, a major element of the mini-state’s power and protection and its lever for exercising power over the state. Without corruption, the mini-state would vanish. Corruption is crucial for the survival of the evil connection between the mini-state and the state. The first objective condition for fighting the phenomenon of corruption in any country is an authority possessing the right of coercion and which has the responsibility to fight corruption. That authority is only accountable to the citizenry for its actions. This concept is quasi-absent from Lebanon. As the executive branch, the government in Lebanon is incapable of maintaining a monopoly on the legitimate use of power. More than that, it is unable to openly admit that it has the exclusive right to be in charge of the country’s security and military affairs. This painful reality serves as the perfect excuse for the government to flee from its constitutional responsibilities. Naturally, when huge gaps in exercising authority are left unfilled and when accountability is absent, the genie of corruption will escape from its bottle under the watchful and encouraging eye of the mini-state. The message to the Lebanese is simple: Your government is not qualified to govern. With this in mind, Hezbollah’s secretary-general declaring war on corruption in the state apparatus is extremely dubious and ironic. Hassan Nasrallah made that promise during the campaign leading up to Lebanon’s recent general elections. It is indeed dubious when it is known that all of Hezbollah’s alliances and agreements with other political forces in Lebanon were based on the principle: “leave my army and arms alone and do whatever you want with the rest of the country’s affairs.”

Hezbollah’s multiple wars on corruption have always been merely rhetorical. Not once has it carried through with its promises. Instead, it has often used the threat of exposing corruption cases as a tactic to blackmail opponents and critics into turning a blind eye on Hezbollah’s state-within-the-state project. Saying that is not to imply that Hezbollah itself is not guilty of corruption. It is known that Hezbollah did nothing to expose or intervene in cases of government corruption that occurred with Hezbollah’s collusion, if not encouragement. However, when the Lebanese government threatened to shut down the party’s communication network, Hezbollah resorted to its blackmailing tactics and almost staged a coup. The Lebanese are eagerly awaiting Hezbollah’s miraculous approach to stomping out corruption. The country’s economy and its citizens have been worn thin by corruption at all levels and by smuggling. The country’s borders have become porous to all sorts of smuggling operations — with Hezbollah’s complicity. To say Hezbollah will eradicate all of that when most of its power alliances are with figures and parties heavily suspected of systematic corruption is beyond fiction. When Lebanese citizens wish Hezbollah the best of luck in its war on corruption, they do so out of desperation. They have despaired of the government’s ability to curb corruption. However, wishful thinking is one thing and reality is another. Reality says that reforms and fighting corruption require state institutions that refuse to be subjected to an outside source of power.

Pro-Syrian Regime Officials Top Lebanon’s Controversial Naturalization Decree

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by aawsat.com -- Lebanon’s controversial naturalization decree has included former Syrian officials and wealthy warlords close to the Syrian regime, according to information released on Saturday. Minister of Education in the caretaker government Marwan Hamadeh accused President Michel Aoun of conspiring with the Syrian regime. In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Hamadeh said the decree, “regardless of the powers of those who signed it, indicates a serious complicity between the Lebanese governance, in particular the current term, with the Syrian authorities that massacred the Syrian people.” “The decree entails more threats than the mere naturalization of some of the suspicious people of the Bashar Assad regime, who will certainly be hit by international and Arab sanctions sooner or later,” he added. Hamadeh called on Prime Minister Saad Hariri to give answers to his friends and allies about the truth behind this decree. Meanwhile, in an official presidential statement on Saturday, Aoun requested that anyone with evidence of the ineligibility of members of the list of people to be granted Lebanese citizenship bring the information to General Security. “The President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, requests anyone who has definite information about any person included in the above-mentioned decree and does not deserve Lebanese nationality to submit this information to the Ministry of the Interior,” the statement read.

Three parliamentary blocs, including the Democratic Gathering, headed by Taymur Jumblat, the “Powerful Republic”, led by the Lebanese Forces, and the Kataeb Party, are preparing to challenge the decree before the Constitutional Council. Some information and photos posted on Twitter revealed that those who were granted Lebanese nationality include Farouk al-Joud, vice president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Lattakia. He is the owner of the largest fleet of ships and is close to the Syrian regime. The family of former Syrian Minister Hani Murtada, Samer Fawz, who is very close to Maher al-Assad and Iyad Ghazal, former governor of Homs, have also been included in the decree. It is not yet confirmed whether some of these names have been mentioned on the lists of international and Arab sanctions, since the naturalization decree has not yet been officially released. However, the Lebanese nationality is an outlet for Syrian individuals and investors to open bank accounts, given that their country is subject to sanctions that hinder their work. The decree needs the signature of the prime minister and interior minister to take effect.