The European Union (EU) has announced a €1 billion aid package for Lebanon, with a significant portion allocated to bolster border control and curb the flow of asylum seekers and migrants. The move comes amid growing hostility towards Syrian refugees in Lebanon and a surge in irregular migration from Lebanon to Cyprus.
The European Union (EU) has announced a €1 billion (approximately $1.06 billion) aid package for Lebanon, a significant portion of which will be used to enhance border control and stem the flow of asylum seekers and migrants across the Mediterranean Sea to Cyprus and Italy. This latest aid package follows similar EU assistance provided to countries like Egypt, Tunisia, and Mauritania to fortify their borders.
The aid distribution is expected to commence this year and continue until 2027, according to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who visited Beirut alongside Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides. The majority of the aid, amounting to €736 million, will be dedicated to supporting Syrian refugees and other vulnerable groups in Lebanon. Meanwhile, €200 million has been earmarked to bolster Lebanese security services responsible for enforcing border and migration control.
An unspecified amount from the aid package will be allocated to Lebanese fishermen to dissuade them from selling their boats to smugglers. Von der Leyen emphasized the EU's commitment to working towards a "more structured approach to voluntary return" of Syrian refugees, in close collaboration with the UN refugee agency. However, she reaffirmed the EU's intention to maintain "legal pathways" for the resettlement of refugees in Europe.
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati welcomed the aid package, acknowledging the interdependence of Lebanon's security with that of European countries and emphasizing that the escalation of the refugee crisis would not be confined to Lebanon but would extend to Europe.
Lebanon, which has been grappling with a severe financial crisis since 2019, hosts approximately 780,000 registered Syrian refugees and hundreds of thousands more who are unregistered, making it the country with the highest per capita refugee population globally. Lebanese authorities have repeatedly urged the international community to resettle refugees in other countries or facilitate their return to Syria, either voluntarily or otherwise. Lebanese security forces have also stepped up the deportation of Syrians over the past year.
Tensions have escalated further in recent months following the killing of a Christian nationalist Lebanese Forces party official, Pascal Suleiman, in an incident attributed by military officials to a botched carjacking by a Syrian gang. This incident sparked anti-Syrian violence by vigilante groups.
Cypriot authorities have also expressed concerns over the overwhelming number of irregular migrants, primarily Syrian asylum seekers, arriving on the island nation, many of whom are believed to be coming from Lebanon. The UNHCR in Lebanon has verified 59 "actual or attempted" departures by boats carrying over 3,191 passengers from Lebanon between January and mid-April, compared to just three documented boat movements carrying 54 passengers during the same period last year.
Cyprus has adopted a new approach to curb the flow of migrants, including suspending the processing of Syrian asylum applications last month. Human rights groups have accused the Cypriot coast guard of forcibly turning back five boats carrying around 500 asylum seekers from Lebanon, an allegation denied by Cypriot officials.
Bassel al-Shayoukh, a Syrian refugee living in Lebanon since 2014, shared his brother's and other relatives' experience of being turned back on one of these boats. He expressed his desire to make the journey himself, driven by fears of being assaulted by vigilantes or deported to Syria after his residency permit was not renewed by Lebanese authorities.
Mohammed Sablouh, a Lebanese human rights lawyer specializing in refugee and migrant cases, believes that Lebanese authorities are deliberately ignoring the surge in migration to "pressure the international community." The Lebanese army has not yet responded to requests for comment on its measures to combat smuggling.
The EU aid announcement precedes the annual fundraising conference for the Syrian crisis in Brussels later this month. After 13 years of civil war, donor fatigue has set in, while international attention has shifted to other humanitarian crises, such as those in Ukraine and Gaza.
The Cypriot president hailed Thursday's announcement as a "historic day," urging European officials to go further and declare certain areas of Syria safe for return. "The current situation is unsustainable for Lebanon, Cyprus, and the European Union," he said.
However, not all Lebanese officials share the belief that European aid will resolve the problem. Samir Geagea, head of the Lebanese Forces party, expressed skepticism, asserting that European authorities are primarily concerned with preventing refugees from reaching Europe. Geagea emphasized the need to return Syrians to their own country, either to government-controlled or opposition-held areas.
Despite these concerns, Shayoukh remains adamant that he has nowhere to go. He faces threats from the Damascus government for opposing President Bashar Assad, while the Islamist group controlling his hometown employs similar repressive tactics as the Syrian regime against dissidents.
