Reflections from Lebanon: Illegal Status, Syrian Refugee Children and Roles of NGOs
Recent developments in the laws, policies and practices in response to the mass influx of displaced persons have pushed over half of the 1.5 million displaced Syrians in Lebanon into illegality (LCRP 2017-2020). As children’s rights are interdependent, the absence of legal status directly affects the enjoyment and fulfilment of children’s fundamental rights (i.e. access to education, health care and an adequate standard of living) and their healthy development and future as a human being.
As a result, 70 per cent of over 1.5 million Syrian refugees are now living below the extreme poverty line and over half of them with illegal status (LCRP 2017-2020). In response, in order to meet their basic needs, many adopt coping mechanisms that can be harmful or put them at more risk, such as: returning to Syria (many face various risks inside Syria and when they re-enter Lebanon); paying high fees for brokers and forged documents; dependency on the sponsor(s) (kafeel) and/or broker(s) (shaweesh) to find a job and housing; and borrowing money (Lebanon Support, 2016).
▻http://leidenlawblog.nl/articles/reflections-from-lebanon
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