Lebanon’s open-border, non-camp response to the influx of Syrian refugees is the “best way” and the “most humane,” UNHCR’s regional refugee coordinator Panos Moumtzis told The Daily Star Wednesday.
Moumtzis’ remarks came after Human Rights Watch’s director of refugee policy pointed out that if the U.N. aid pledges are fulfilled, Jordan, per capita, would receive 75 percent more aid per refugee than Lebanon – despite the Lebanese hosting the largest number of Syrian refugees.
“Lebanon hosts more Syrian refugees than any other country in the region, but the U.N.’s $1 billion plan called for $495 million for Jordan and only $267 million for Lebanon,” Bill Frelick pointed out in a commentary published Sunday in the U.S.-based online GlobalPost.
Frelick noted that Lebanon is the only country whose border had remained unquestionably open to all refugees – there have been no reported deportations since 14 Syrians were returned last August and relatively few detentions – and the only one that had not established formal camps.
Approximately 5 percent of Syrian refugees in Lebanon live in informal tented settlements, with the vast majority livingin local communities.
Frelick also raised concerns that Lebanon, upon seeing countries that had chosen to put refugees in camps receiving the lion’s share of financial support, would be discouraged from its open-border, non-camp response.
Speaking to The Daily Star about the apparent discrepancy in funding under the United Nations Regional Response Plan, Moumtzis explained it in pragmatic terms: “The cost per refugee, per family, in a camp is much higher than [the cost of] having refugees hosted in communities,” Moumtzis said. He noted that this is true not just in the Middle East but worldwide.
In Jordan, Moumtzis said, all newly arrived Syrian refugees must go to camps in line with a decision made by the country’s Cabinet.
Jordan’s Zaatari camp presently hosts over 100,000 refugees and has earned a reputation among Syrians as a poorly organized and undesirable place to live.
Moumtzis said Wednesday that work was ongoing to open a second camp in the Hashemite kingdom.
“Building a camp is like building a city from zero,” Moumtzis added, highlighting the range of infrastructure and services – water, sanitation, schools, health centers, etc. – necessary within the confines of such a settlement.
Similarly, UNHCR resident representative Ninette Kelley pointed out last month at the launch of the joint U.N.-Lebanese government “Lebanese Host Communities Support Program” that it was “way more expensive” to accommodate refugees in camps than in local communities.
Recognizing that the majority of refugees in Lebanon are hosted in the country’s poorest communities, Kelley joined Social Affairs Minister Wael Abu Faour and other officials calling for financial support from the international community for their host community program.
The number of refugees hosted by each country in the region is in constant flux.
An aid distribution calculation based on the most recent UNHCR refugee figures shows that Jordan, which hosts 373,138 refugees, receives approximately 50 percent more aid per refugee than Lebanon, which hosts 391,777 refugees.
Moumtzis also emphasized the constantly shifting parameters in which the UNHCR works, suggesting that allocations prescribed under the regional plan may no longer accurately reflect needs on the ground.
Lebanon has to date received 130 percent of the Syrian refugees the UNHCR had projected would arrive in the country by June, he said.
Meanwhile, Moumtzis said a mere fraction of the funds pledged to the regional plan at an international conference held in Kuwait in January had been received.
“We have received only 38 percent of the required funding in Lebanon [while] regionally we’ve received 31 percent,” he said.
Data from the UNHCR published March 15 shows that while Jordan has to date actually received more donations than Lebanon – $132 million compared to $101 million – only 21 percent of its required funding has materialized. The percentages are even lower in the cases of Turkey and Egypt, 20 and 19 percent respectively.
“The humanitarian situation is deteriorating at a speed much greater than the international community is responding,” Moumtzis said, adding that while most Western pledges had materialized, many of the Gulf states’ commitments remained outstanding.
Regarding the impact of Lebanon’s non-camp approach on its ability to generate international aid donations, Moumtzis shared some of HRW’s Frelick’s concerns.
“We [the UNHCR] obviously care equally for all refugees whether [they are] in camps or not,” Moumtzis said. But he pointed out, as Frelick did, that camps tend to attract more media and public attention.
Countries, when donating to the regional response effort, may stipulate to which state their money goes. It follows that if there is perceived to be a greater need in Jordan than in Lebanon, funds are more likely to be earmarked for allocation there.
The UNHCR is working to counteract this bias. “We are trying to get Lebanon more coverage. Lebanon is receiving the largest number of refugees and it is having the biggest impact on the country. ... We want to ensure there is enough support,” Moumtzis said.
“I cannot find strong enough words to mobilize international community support for Lebanon,” he added.
