EU to send €1 billion in aid to Lebanon to curb migration | DW News

EU to send €1 billion in aid to Lebanon to curb migration | DW News

now the European commission president osela funder has announced an economic package economic aid package for Lebanon and has urged it to tackle illegal migration to the block speaking in Beirut she said the EU will provide a 1 billion Euro Aid package to the country in return for Lebanon tightening its borders she’s meeting with prime minister najim MTI as well as nichos Christus the president of EU member Cyprus now because of its location in the Mediterranean Sea Cyprus is dealing with a sharp increase in the number of Syrian refugees arriving by boat from Lebanon and has lobbied the EU for months to extend Aid to Lebanon now Lebanon hosts more than 2 million syrians over half of whom have entered the country illegally Lebanon itself is in the middle of its worst ever economic crisis many Lebanese say the high number of syrians in their country is making the situation worse DW’s Beirut bureau chief Muhammad [ __ ] reports now and a warning to our viewers that some of you may find images in this report distressing a fresh wave of Fury at syrians in Lebanon this time it looks much more serious the recent murder of local christian Party official allegedly at the hands of a carjacking gang of Syrian Nationals has triggered violence and vitriol at syrians in Lebanon including a displaced refugees Ahmed fled War torn Syria 10 years ago now he fears being displaced again this time from Lebanon we are afraid and barely sleep at night every time someone knocks at the door we fear that someone has come to attack us I’m unable to go to work or to the supermarket I can’t leave home I’ve been receiving threats demanding I leave the neighborhood within 5 days where shall I go I can’t go back to Syria I’m wanted and would be immediately drafted into the military to all syrians in B hamud you must leave your shops and Residences by Friday at the latest you’ve been warned for tens of years syrians have lived in this neighborhood together with Lebanese mainly Christians but now these Syrian run shops have been shut down and many Syrian families have left their rented homes they took over our businesses and replace this they come into Lebanon illegally and are increasingly committing crimes and murders I want them out in any way possible I just want them out they took our jobs and disrupted Our Lives those who have a legal status can stay but those are here illegally should leave but attacking them is not acceptable under pressure by lebanon’s economic collapse and the country’s political paralysis the authorities are echoing these sentiments the security forces and the police to firmly and strictly Implement Lebanese law on Syrian refugees Lebanon hosts the greatest number of refugees per capita of any country in the world more than 2 million syrians in Lebanon form 45% of the population this would be equivalent of nearly 38 million refugees in Germany and some 153 million refugees in the United States of America these sort of numbers are very significant in the context of lebanon’s sectarian power sharing model the vast majority of the refugees are Sunni Muslims and that has been fueling fears of a huge demographic imbalance in a country where Christians and Muslims share power equally in a rare scene of political Unity rival political parties are calling for the deportation of Syrian refugees pushing many of them towards choices that is making Europe very nervous I can’t stay here against the will of the Lebanese I don’t know what to do I may try to leave for another country but I know I have no other choice but to go through illegal migrant boats with onward migration through legal routs Out Of Reach the dangerous sea Journeys to Europe will only increase joining us now is the author of that report our bayroot bureau chief muhamed Cher and DW’s Terry Schulz who joins us from Brussels uh Muhammad tell us why the EU is making this announcement now I mean we know that syrians have been taking refuge in Lebanon for a long time right simply because Cyprus is under pressure and is pressuring the EU in return so to understand how serious is the influx of refugees is affecting uh Cyprus we have to look into uh these numbers presented by the interior Ministry in in Cyprus that suggests that more than 2,000 people arrived in uh Cyprus by boat between January and April uh of this year compared to only 78 people uh uh who arrived to Cyprus in the same period uh of time last year that is nearly 30 times more Refugee refugees in a in a year and that’s why Cyprus is uh ringing the bell and putting the uh putting some pressure on the uh EU to turn an eye to Lebanon and help Lebanon manage the long-standing refugee problem I understand Terry if I can turn to you can you tell us um about how this billion Euro Aid packaged is practically going to help Lebanon well that’s how the European Union wants to portray it Anya as helping Lebanon with 1 billion euros which is entirely grants so that is of course good news for Beirut and it will be helping Lebanon they say in terms of helping improve the education sector health care they’re going to help with reforming the financial and banking sector there’ll be new training and equipment for lebanon’s armed forces but in fact some three qus of this money is actually going to go toward helping the refugee crisis inside Lebanon and for the European Union that means tightening the borders and increasing cooperation with frontex the eu’s border control agency because what’s in the eu’s interest is keeping those people in Lebanon and not allowing any more of them to leave attempting to get to the European Union so while this package may be uh portrayed as being for Lebanon it’s also very much for the European Union okay Muhammad talk to us about um this suggestion that the presence of so many syrians is actually burdening the economy uh is that fact it is I mean if we look at at the the numbers the Syrian communities form 45% of the population in of Lebanon uh today this is quite a burden on lebanon’s economy and infrastructure for example a recent count by the uh Ministry of interior in Lebanon shows that more than 35% of prisoners in leanon are syrians and prisons are already overcrowded and prisoners are facing unbearable conditions already another aspect on another aspect syrians are underpaid and therefore they are um much more higher than Lebanese because it’s it’s cheaper and this is leaving Lebanese with much less uh jobs this has been creating uh uh rage and and and anger from hosting communities as well but all this is really only the tip of the iceberg in in lebanon’s failing State the inability of the ruling Elite to deal with many layers of problems in on all aspects like economic Financial political social the list goes on so scapegoating syrians has been largely used by Lebanese politicians who frequently blame the uh uh Lebanon crises on on the um Syrian refugees more than 1.5 million Syrian refugees and this rhetoric has been further fueling intercommunal tensions I see and Terry the the EU has of course struck deals with other countries hasn’t it turkey Egypt uh to help manage the refugee crisis can this Aid package to Lebanon really help control the numbers of refugees who are trying to get into the uh the EU well that’s clearly what EU leaders are counting on and they have seen some success with uh this model as you mentioned in Turkey where uh increasing border protections and improving the situation in the C expanding the camps inside turkey meant more people were kept there rather than getting in boats and trying to make it to the European Union but as Muhammad explained this has to be made attractive to the Lebanese government as well and that’s why this money and and these uh this assistance in lebanon’s own socioeconomic uh conditions is so important but again let’s be honest the European Union needs to show that it’s doing something on migration ahead of European elections which are coming up in just a few weeks with migration to be one of the the top uh top issues there that voters are going to be deciding on and you can’t ignore the fact that the Israeli Hamas war is creating even more refugees and some of those have ended up in Lebanon already and that’s something the European Union is worried about so this package is something that EU leaders very much hope will stop will stem the tide uh human rights activists are not so thrilled with these conditions but we’ll just have to see how this works out with Lebanon Terry Schulz and Muhammad Cher thanks to you both so much for that

The European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has announced a 1-billion euro aid package for Lebanon and urged it to tackle illegal migration to the EU. She’s meeting with Prime Minister Najim Mikati as well as Nicos Christodoulides – the president of EU member Cyprus. Because of its location in the Mediterranean, Cyprus is dealing with a sharp increase in the number of Syrian refugees arriving by boat from Lebanon — and has lobbied the EU for months to extend aid to the cash-strapped country. Lebanon currently hosts more than two million Syrians — over half of whom have entered the country illegally – fueling tensions with local communities. We speak to DW’s Beirut Bureau Chief Mohamad Chreyteh, and Brussels Correspondent Teri Schultz. A WARNING that some viewers may find images in this report disturbing.

00:00 Intro and Report
05:00 Interview Mohamad Chreyteh and Teri Schultz

#lebanon #eu #migration

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