By Mohammed Zaatari
SIDON, Lebanon: The Syrian refugee presence in Sidon has raised security concerns among the city’s residents, after a quarrel led to injuries at one large refugee complex and protests were held against the creation of another. The problems began last Monday when a dispute broke out between Louay Mansour, a representative of the Humanitarian Association for Refugees, a local non-profit, and Syrians residing in the Imam Ouzai College complex at the entrance of Sidon.
Mansour was aiding in the construction of new rooms at the complex when a clash erupted among Syrian workers, who sources claimed had not been following Mansour’s instructions. Original reports alleged that Mansour was called to the complex by the Syrian workers, after which a shootout ensued, leaving three people hurt, including Mansour, whose hand was injured.
Two Syrians, identified as Shaher Saeed and Mohammad al-Aweed, were also injured.
The incident raised concerns among locals that the Syrian refugees residing in the complex possessed weapons. Security sources had told The Daily Star that the Ouzai complex in particular posed a threat to the southern city because some refugees were in possession of arms.
The Ouzai complex shelters 200 families – about 1,000 people, all from the same village of Sahl al-Ghan in Hama. It is the largest complex in Sidon and is considered by locals to be extremely dangerous.
However, Syrian refugees residing in the complex and a field worker from Premier Urgence, the U.N.-partner agency which supervises the site, vehemently denied the presence of arms at the site when The Daily Star approached them for comment.
“They don’t have weapons,” said Mohammad Ghazal from Premiere Urgence who regularly monitors the refugees residing in the complex.
Responding to an Army statement released last Sunday that there was a “gunfire exchange” between the Syrian workers and Mansour, a Syrian refugee residing in Ouzai known as Aby Maysa said the quarrel erupted because the contractor wanted them to work for longer hours, something the Syrians refused.
“After some time he [the contractor] came back with a bunch of armed thugs and wanted to attack us, so we chased them out with sticks and stones,” he said. “We have no guns here in the complex.”
“The police arrested seven of us, myself included,” he added. “I was discharged after 24 hours and the others were discharged 48 hours after.”
Abu Maysa said that had security forces intervened to contain the situation, the row would not have escalated.
Fadi Shamieh, the deputy head of the Union of Aid Agencies, also said there was no evidence of arms at the complex, and corroborated Abu Maysa’s version of events last week.
He said the union was aiming to improve the living conditions of the large substandard building by adding more rooms and a school.
“We didn’t know about the quarrel, or that the contractor later took armed people with him to the complex,” Shamieh said.
“Using any kind of weapons is unacceptable as far as we are concerned.”
“The contractor feared for his life, and maybe he took these armed people with him for self-defense.”
“They did nothing but shoot in the air, then fled,” he said.
But the incident has raised concerns over the lack of existing safety measures in large complexes, where entire villages have relocated together.
“These people are fierce,” Shamieh said because of strong familial ties.
“The state should not come to the point where they lose control of the refugees,” Shamieh warned.
“They should control such complexes and be more attentive to what is happening inside them.”
Problems in the Ouzai complex have driven Sidon figures and notables to demand that its residents be divided or sent elsewhere to spare the city additional security incidents.
And in Jezzine last week, residents staged a protest against the establishment of a Syrian refugee complex in the village of Labaa. The Hadara school building of Labaa was rented by the World Islamic Aid Organization, to be converted into a shelter complex.
A statement from the Union of Jezzine Municipalities explained that its refusal to receive Syrian refugees was out of concern that their presence would endanger public safety.
Sources well acquainted with the issue said that after the protests and contacts made by residents and officials from the area municipalities’ plans to convert the school into a complex were canceled. The issue is especially sensitive because Labaa is a mostly Christian area.
Sources following up on the issue said opposition to establishing a large complex was not limited to the area, or to a certain sect, but was a stance upheld by most local figures and political parties, apprehensive of the continuing flow of refugees and the strain this would cause on resources.
Sources said a comprehensive contingency plan that required input from political parties and the international community was needed in Sidon to manage the refugees, especially now that winter was approaching. The sources added that the plan should be based on facts and field surveys about the refugee presence in Sidon.
The Daily Star was informed that Sidon’s Mufti Salim Sousan had suggested formulating this contingency plan during a meeting last Friday at the residence of Sidon MP Bahia Hariri in the village of Majdalyoun.
The suggestion was well received by the parties present, sources added.
Kamel Kozbar, head of the Union of Aid Agencies said: “There are hundreds of [refugee] families in the vicinity of Sidon and its villages. Local organizations are caring for them and finding them shelter with no help from the municipalities.”
“What is needed are joint efforts to reduce the suffering of the refugee families [and to] help eliminate problems arising from bad living conditions.”
Separately, the NGO Adyan, Al-Iman schools and the Islamic Aid Organizaton marked the Day for International Peace with a celebration over the weekend which also concluded the end of summer activities for Syrian refugee children in Sidon.
The celebration, which was held in the Iman High School playground, was attended by 550 refugee children. – Additional reporting by Samya Kullab
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23/09/2013
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