Refugees from Somalia, Sudan, Iraq and other countries, living in constant fear of arrest and possible deportation by the Lebanese authorities, demanded Sunday that Lebanon provide them with protection.
“Every time I go out the house, I’m afraid I might not return, and when I come back safely I thank God for that,” said a 29-year-old Sudanese man as he wrapped his arm around his three-year-old son perched on his lap.
Like all other refugees interviewed by The Daily Star, the man preferred not to be named. He was among some 100 refugees at UNESCO Palace on Sunday celebrating World Refugee Day, organized by the Adhoc Committee for the Support of Non-Palestinian Refugees and Asylum-Seekers (ACSRA) and Amnesty International’s pressure groups here.
A special UN General Assembly resolution that was unanimously adopted in 2000 designated June 20 of every year as World Refugee Day.
The Sudanese man and his family fled southern Sudan for Lebanon in January, 2000, and after four to five months they were all granted refugee status by the UN High Commission for Refugees in Beirut.
Nevertheless, the white card in his pocket would not do him any good here despite its plea to the “Lebanese civil and military authorities to facilitate for the holder of this certificate the enjoyment of the status of refugee until the finding of a permanent solution,” as written on the card.
Other holders of a similar card were detained in prisons here for illegally entering the country. One was a Somali refugee who was imprisoned twice. In both cases, he was released after one month and given a chance to leave the country within three months. He did not.
“We demand the Lebanese government provide safety for all refugees and coordinate with the UNHCR so we can be resettled in a third country,” he said.
But Lebanon is not party to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and therefore does not consider itself bound by its provisions.
An Iraqi refugee pointed out that refugees did not enjoy entering Lebanon illegally. “All we want is to stop feeling afraid,” he said.
International law defines refugees as people who are unable or unwilling to return to their countries due to a well-founded fear of persecution.
“In principle, we hope that all states take part in the (1951 convention),” said an ACSRA official. “But today we are not demanding that Lebanon sign the convention. We only want it to provide the minimum level of (rights), and that is the protection of the refugees,” said the official, who also preferred not to identify herself.
One means of protection, she explained, was through refraining from deporting refugees to countries where their lives might be endangered.
On May 3, Amnesty International voiced its concern over press reports on “the deportation of 300 Iraqis from Lebanon (in April) … to countries where they would not be protected against forcible return (to their home country).”
State Prosecutor Adnan Addoum has responded by saying that the deportation took place in accordance with Lebanese laws.
The Iraqi refugee told The Daily Star that friends transported to northern Iraq in April were afraid they would be extradited to government-controlled areas: “The Kurdish parties are making deals with the Iraqi government in which they would exchange Iraqis with Kurdish detainees in Iraqi prisons,” he explained.
Amnesty International considers Lebanon “still has a duty to respect standards of customary international law,” especially Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which provides for the right of everyone to seek asylum in another country and “which has been enshrined in the preamble of the Lebanese Constitution.”
Moreover, Article 26 of the Foreigners’ Entry and Residence Law provides for the right of any foreigner “whose life or freedom is in danger for political reasons” to seek asylum in Lebanon.

Copyright © The Daily Star