Lebanon Struggles to Cope with New Syrian Migration Wave

 Children at a camp for Syrian refugees in Bar Elias, in the Lebanese Bekaa Valley on July 7, 2022 (AP)
Children at a camp for Syrian refugees in Bar Elias, in the Lebanese Bekaa Valley on July 7, 2022 (AP)
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Lebanon Struggles to Cope with New Syrian Migration Wave

 Children at a camp for Syrian refugees in Bar Elias, in the Lebanese Bekaa Valley on July 7, 2022 (AP)
Children at a camp for Syrian refugees in Bar Elias, in the Lebanese Bekaa Valley on July 7, 2022 (AP)

Asharq Al-Awsat is closely monitoring the influx of new Syrian refugees into Lebanese territory, specifically the Bekaa region in eastern Lebanon.

These refugees are fleeing dire economic and living conditions in Syria, marking a new wave of displacement following the security-driven causes that led to the initial wave several years ago.

These displaced individuals are coordinating with traffickers who transport them covertly through unauthorized routes into Lebanese territory. This issue has prompted a political and security alert within Lebanon, aiming to prevent the exacerbation of this phenomenon, which has intensified in recent weeks.

One Syrian, Fadi S., aged 24, shared with Asharq Al-Awsat upon his arrival in Baalbek, eastern Lebanon, that he had only a single dollar in his pocket, insufficient to purchase essential supplies from a local supermarket.

His journey from Syria’s Homs to the Lebanese Bekaa region had depleted all his resources, and the $100 sent by his uncle to pay the human trafficker to bring him into Lebanon was exhausted.

Fadi’s intention upon arriving in Lebanon is to seek employment.

The journey Fadi took to Baalbek was arduous, spanning 13 hours and involving passage through unauthorized crossings and rugged paths.

However, it was relatively easy to navigate these obstacles because, as he mentioned, “the smugglers are familiar with hidden points unknown to Syrian and Lebanese security personnel.”

Sometimes, these refugees walk for hours through fields and orchards to reach the heart of Lebanon.

Fadi entered through an unauthorized crossing north of Hermel in the far northeast of Lebanon, along with a group of 17 Syrians, most of whom were young individuals seeking employment.

Upon arrival in Lebanese territory, they dispersed—some sought refuge in Syrian displacement camps in Bekaa, where they had relatives, while others sought shelter with relatives in villages in Baalbek.

The sole motivation behind Fadi’s displacement is the dire economic situation.

“I fled the hellish economic conditions, the unbearable cost of living in Syria, and the significant devaluation of the Syrian pound,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“These factors threaten our access to gas and heating fuel as winter approaches.”

“Life has become exceedingly harsh in Syria due to the exchange rate soaring to 14,000 Syrian pounds for one US dollar, while the daily wages for agricultural and construction workers in Syria do not exceed three dollars (40,000 Syrian pounds),” Fadi further explained.

“Meanwhile, food prices have surged, with the price per kilogram of tomatoes, grapes, and potatoes reaching over 3,000 Syrian pounds.”

“A gallon of oil costs 110,000 Syrian pounds ($8), and a kilogram of sugar has risen to 13,000 Syrian pounds (around $1).”

According to Fadi, these conditions forced him to leave his job in Homs.

He couldn't afford the cost of escaping, so he turned to his uncle living abroad, who sent him $100.

Fadi used this money to pay a trafficking group comprised of Lebanese and Syrians, allowing him to finally have a chance at improving his economic situation and finding work in Lebanon.

Indeed, he found his opportunity in Lebanon, where he secured a job the day after his arrival.

On Wednesday, he mentioned that he had started working in construction labor and was earning a daily wage of $8.

Lebanese security sources confirm that the amount Fadi paid is consistent with what they have seen, but investigations into apprehended individuals fleeing across the border illegally reveal even larger sums.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat under conditions of anonymity, a security source in the Bekaa region revealed that the fees charged by smuggling gangs per person “range from $100 to $600, depending on the nature of the journey.”

The security source also noted that some who illicitly enter Lebanon “use Lebanese territory as a transit route to European countries, Turkey, Egypt, or Greece, via sea and airports.”

“Their affairs are managed by gangs that secure accommodation in Lebanon before facilitating their departure abroad,” added the source.

The economic situation remains the primary driver for the migration of Syrians to Lebanon.

Samia, 32 years old, arrived on Tuesday with her two-year-old son, Mohammed, at a camp near Baalbek through an illegal smuggling route.

She had previously returned to Syria to live with her family, believing that the economic situation in Syria was better than in Lebanon.

However, Samia has now returned to Lebanon, seeking refuge from the “deteriorating economic conditions in Syria.”

She returned once again to the neighboring country to live with her husband, who works as a truck driver there.

Today, Samia resides in the same tent she had abandoned for Syria two months ago, returning through the same smuggling route and with the same traffickers.

“When I left for Syria two months ago through smugglers to live there with my family, the situation was better than it is today. But now, life has become unbearable, and that’s what compelled me to return to Lebanon,” she told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Samia mentions that the cost of the journey, both to enter Syria from Lebanon and return, amounts to $200, as charged by the smugglers for both the outbound and return trips.

Lebanese authorities have taken measures to thwart illegal border crossings.

“As part of combating human trafficking and illegal infiltration across the land borders, units of the Lebanese Army, at various times during the past week, foiled an attempt to infiltrate approximately 1,100 Syrians at the Lebanese-Syrian border,” the Lebanese Army stated in a recent press release.

Smuggling routes span a vast area, starting from Suweiri in southern Bekaa and extending to the far northeast of Lebanon, covering the entire northern border region. Smuggling is considered easier in the north due to the dense vegetation cover that conceals infiltrators.

A security source in eastern Lebanon informed Asharq Al-Awsat that the Lebanese Army, with the assistance of the Border Regiment and intelligence patrols, has successfully controlled both legal and illegal border crossings.

They have also established parallel checkpoints along international highways in northern Bekaa to prevent new waves of refugees from entering, following a recent security lapse.

The source, who requested anonymity, pointed out that those fleeing to Lebanon come from all Syrian regions without exception.

The source added that individuals apprehended by the army are repatriated across the border.



Gazans’ Daily Struggle for Water After Deadly Israeli Strike

 Palestinians wait for donated food at a community kitchen in Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip, Monday, July 14, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians wait for donated food at a community kitchen in Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip, Monday, July 14, 2025. (AP)
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Gazans’ Daily Struggle for Water After Deadly Israeli Strike

 Palestinians wait for donated food at a community kitchen in Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip, Monday, July 14, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians wait for donated food at a community kitchen in Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip, Monday, July 14, 2025. (AP)

The al-Manasra family rarely get enough water for both drinking and washing after their daily trudge to a Gaza distribution point like the one where eight people were killed on Sunday in a strike that Israel's military said had missed its target.

Living in a tent camp by the ruins of a smashed concrete building in Gaza City, the family say their children are already suffering from diarrhea and skin maladies and from the lack of clean water, and they fear worse to come.

"There's no water, our children have been infected with scabies, there are no hospitals to go to and no medications," said Akram Manasra, 51.

He had set off on Monday for a local water tap with three of his daughters, each of them carrying two heavy plastic containers in Gaza's blazing summer heat, but they only managed to fill two - barely enough for the family of 10.

Gaza's lack of clean water after 21 months of war and four months of Israeli blockade is already having "devastating impacts on public health" the United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA said in a report this month.

For people queuing at a water distribution point on Sunday it was fatal. A missile that Israel said had targeted fighters but malfunctioned hit a queue of people waiting to collect water at the Nuseirat refugee camp.

Israel's blockade of fuel along with the difficulty in accessing wells and desalination plants in zones controlled by the Israeli military is severely constraining water, sanitation and hygiene services according to OCHA.

Fuel shortages have also hit waste and sewage services, risking more contamination of the tiny, crowded territory's dwindling water supply, and diseases causing diarrhea and jaundice are spreading among people crammed into shelters and weakened by hunger.

"If electricity was allowed to desalination plants the problem of a lethal lack of water, which is what's becoming the situation now in Gaza, would be changed within 24 hours," said James Elder, the spokesperson for the UN's children's agency UNICEF.

"What possible reason can there be for denying of a legitimate amount of water that a family needs?" he added.

COGAT, the Israeli military aid coordination agency, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Last week, an Israeli military official said that Israel was allowing sufficient fuel into Gaza but that its distribution around the enclave was not under Israel's purview.

THIRSTY AND DIRTY

For the Manasra family, like others in Gaza, the daily toil of finding water is exhausting and often fruitless.

Inside their tent the family tries to maintain hygiene by sweeping. But there is no water for proper cleaning and sometimes they are unable to wash dishes from their meager meals for several days at a time.

Manasra sat in the tent and showed how one of his young daughters had angry red marks across her back from what he said a doctor had told them was a skin infection caused by the lack of clean water.

They maintain a strict regimen of water use by priority.

After pouring their two containers of water from the distribution point into a broken plastic water butt by their tent, they use it to clean themselves from the tap, using their hands to spoon it over their heads and bodies.

Water that runs off into the basin underneath is then used for dishes and after that - now grey and dirty - for clothes.

"How is this going to be enough for 10 people? For the showering, washing, dish washing, and the washing of the covers. It's been three months; we haven't washed the covers, and the weather is hot," Manasra said.

His wife, Umm Khaled, sat washing clothes in a tiny puddle of water at the bottom of a bucket - all that was left after the more urgent requirements of drinking and cooking.

"My daughter was very sick from the heat rash and the scabies. I went to several doctors for her and they prescribed many medications. Two of my children yesterday, one had diarrhea and vomiting and the other had fever and infections from the dirty water," she said.