Lebanon Army order evicts 3,000 Syrian refugees from camps

In this Dec. 15, 2013 file photo, Syrian refugees walk outside their tents at a refugee camp in the eastern Lebanese border town of Arsal, Lebanon. (AP)

BEIRUT: Around 3,000 Syrian refugees have left their tents in Lebanon鈥檚 Bekaa Valley after oral eviction orders issued last month by the army, Human Rights Watch (HRW) told AFP on Tuesday.
Lebanon is home to over 1 million Syrian refugees, many of whom live in informal tented settlements set up on private agricultural land across the country.
In late March, Lebanon鈥檚 armed forces said refugees living in camps near security installations, like the Riyaq military airport, would have to leave.
At the time, a security source told AFP that the decision had been 鈥渢aken for security purposes.鈥�
鈥淭here cannot be large population centers around military bases. We choose security 鈥� security over any other consideration, the security of our bases over everything else,鈥� the source said.
HRW has said a total of 10,000 Syrian refugees were at risk of displacement from camps.
鈥淎bout 3,000 people have left their homes of their own accord after receiving oral eviction notices,鈥� HRW鈥檚 Lebanon researcher Bassam Khawaja told AFP.
鈥淭he orders came out starting in late March... and they gave people between seven and 10 days to evacuate their camps,鈥� Khawaja told AFP.
Although the deadline had already passed, HRW said the army had yet to carry out any forced evictions.
鈥淏ut the big issue is there continues to be a lack of clarity from the government and the army about where these people are supposed to move to,鈥� Khawaja said.
鈥淣ot all areas within the eviction zone have received these notices. If they move to a different area that is still within the eviction zone, they may face a secondary eviction in the future,鈥� he said.
鈥淚t is an utterly unrealistic timeline to expect people to uproot their lives in.鈥�
The UN鈥檚 refugee agency (UNHCR) said it did not know how many refugees had relocated but said 鈥渁 number of families have already moved to nearby plots of land.鈥�
鈥淪ome have managed to speak to the landlord and relocate to a nearby plot of land (owned) by the same landlord,鈥� said spokeswoman Dana Sleiman.
Refugees living in camps pay rent to Lebanese landowners in order to set up their tents.
Lebanon鈥檚 infrastructure, already devastated by a 15-year civil war that ended in 1990, has been further strained by the influx of refugees from the conflict in neighboring Syria.
Prime Minister Saad Hariri last month warned of 鈥渉uge tensions鈥� between Lebanese and Syrians in many host communities that could implode into 鈥渃ivil unrest.鈥�