My life in transit, Abu Nidal's Dwelling in Beirut

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My life in transit, Abu Nidal’s Dwelling in Beirut

Dima El Khouri-Tannous

To cite this version:

Dima El Khouri-Tannous. My life in transit, Abu Nidal’s Dwelling in Beirut. Refugees as City-Makers

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Refugees as

City-Makers

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ﺔـﻨـﻳﺪـﻤـﻟا ﻮـﻌـﻧﺎــﺻ

Edited by:

Mona Fawaz

Ahmad Gharbieh

Mona Harb

Dounia Salamé

:ﺮــــــــﻳ

ﺮﺤــــــــﺗ

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Refugess as City-Makers

A Publication by the Social Justice and the City Program

at the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs, American University of Beirut

Editors: Mona Fawaz, Ahmad Gharbieh, Mona Harb and Dounia Salamé Translation to Arabic: Dima Charif

Translation to English: Lina Mounzer (from Arabic) and Roula Seghaier (from French) Arabic language editing: May Achour

Arabic language correction: Ali Krayem Creative direction: Ahmad Gharbieh Layout and design: Sara Sukhun

Social Justice and the City is a research program at the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs that aims to influence ongoing urban development (in Lebanon and beyond) for the purpose of actualizing more inclusive and just cities and regions. Over the past four years, the program has worked on questions of housing, urban renewal, public and shared spaces, forced population displacement, urban social movements, land policy, and more. Whenever pos-sible, projects are developed in partnership with scholars, policymakers, and activists who share the same vision and concerns for equity, in order to broaden the program’s scientific and practical basis and contribute to the making of an ecosystem of change.

The editorial team would like to thank: all the authors for their contributions, and the team at the Issam Fares Institute for their logistical support throughout the process.

This publication was made possible by the generous support of the Ford Foundation. Printed in Beirut – September 2018

ISBN: 978-9953-586-39-7

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"My life in transit",

Abu Nidal's Dwelling in Beirut

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From occupiers to undesired migrants, Syrians have been on a long-term downward spiral in the collec-tive memory of a significant number of Lebanese since 1975. Aside from the obvious challenge for any people to absorb in less than four years a population increase of over 25%, refugees’ living conditions in Lebanon are complicated by the regulatory frame-work that organizes their arrival to the country. In-deed, the national government’s failure to react to the massive population influx which brought over 1.5 million forcefully displaced individuals to Leb-anon between 2011 and 2015 left the organization of refugee settlement and the management of their livelihoods to their individual means and those of a wide array of international organizations. In 2015, the national government opted to extend the oppres-sive kafalai framework that governs the presence

and work of migrant workers in Lebanon to the Syr-ian population. This decision complicated their legal status and eventually criminalized their presence in the country given that the vast majority was unable to secure a “sponsor/guarantor”.

These settlement conditions are further com-plicated by the historical context in which refugees have arrived, one that leads me to claim it is

virtual-ly impossible for Syrian refugees today to develop a healthy, comfortable situation in Lebanon. To begin with, Syrian refugees’ presence is often cast within the history of the Palestinian refugee settlement that a section of the Lebanese population blames for the outbreak of the Lebanese civil war. In addition, many Lebanese individuals locate the presence of this large (Syrian) population in continuity with the history of Lebanese-Syrian relations, through which the cur-rent Syrian regime dominated for extended periods local and international politics in Lebanon and, con-sequently, the country’s economic and social life.

In this ethnographic vignette, I share excerpts of a conversation with a young Syrian man recorded in July 2016. I offer readers a window to the daily strug-gles of a relatively well-off, active Syrian who has been in Lebanon for the past few years. Through his struggles in securing shelter, work, and a semblance of normalcy, one reads a narrative of resilience and resourcefulness but also incredible hardship amidst the continuous stresses of an uncertain future.

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“A 6 months contract between us, and not official-ly registered of course. […] In this NGO, all em-ployees were not registered with the National So-cial Security Fund, the NGO was recognized and registered solely by the Ministry of Social Affairs, […] even my Lebanese colleagues had the same type of contract - the 6 months renewable - and none of us was insured in the beginning. They eventually provided us with private insurance”. A year later, in early 2015, Abu Nidal moved to the neighborhood of Hamra. Due to high rent rates and what he described as “roommate turnover”, he relocated to the city’s suburbs in the more affordable area of Ayn el Remmaneh where he found what he described as a“better” apartment and bought a car to compensate for the distances that now separated him from work and friends.

Field notes, conversation with Abu Nidal

Part 1: Settling in the city

It was a Sunday late afternoon in July when I sat with Abu Nidal in the area of Ashrafieh. We met at the inauguration of his friends’ new restaurant (Syri-an Armeni(Syri-ans) where he had invited me to join him. He seemed relaxed, arrived late, apologized casually and smiled. The new restaurant owners welcomed him warmly. The music was loud: a background of Latin dance was perfect for the occasion since a Bra-zilian chef was cooking “live” for the opening night. I learned that Abu Nidal had frequently travelled prior to the eruption of the Syrian revolution in 2011. By the time he returned to Damascus to be closer to his family, months before the outbreak of violence, he felt free. He hadn’t expected the events that followed:

“It would never have crossed my mind that the country would be turned upside down or the world would break down at once, it was an im-possible scenario. […] When the “events” started [he laughs and adds], people now refer to it as a “civil war”, […] I never liked weapons or anything military or any appearances of violence so I came to the nearest possible place I could go to work… that was Lebanon.”

Did you know anyone here? Did you have friends? “No I didn’t have any friends per se, but I had rel-atives.”

At first, he moved around Beirut. Eventually, he settled in a house in the area of Manara with a Leb-anese family of Syrian descent that he described as “friends of the family”. Abu Nidal informally worked

for the family for a while, helping run various errands in lieu of rent fees. About a year later, he moved to Ain el Mraysseh and got a job with an international NGO. When I asked about the nature of his rental contract, he let out a smirk and said:

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works on any opportunity he can find, wholeheart-edly. He is not wanted by the Lebanese community at large, and he knows it - and at the same time his presence is and has to be tolerated politically - and it is perhaps this combination that rendered his dwell-ing in the city suffocatdwell-ing.

Part 2: Legal restrictions

Soon after the outbreak of the refugee crisis in Leb-anon, hostility to the presence of forced migrants began to visibly materialize. With the government turning a blind eye, banners dotted both rural and urban landscapes carrying racist signs and threats, often with the implicit or explicit support of munic-ipal authorities many of whom imposed curfews on this population. By restricting the mobility of Syri-ans, many municipalities effectively enforced a sec-ond class status on the refugees, empowering local youth to stop and harass those who dared move after sunset even if they were running to the pharmacy. Dire conditions were further exacerbated as of Janu-ary 2015 after the Council of Ministries passed a de-cision to restrict Syrian refugees’ entry into Lebanon and encourage those already present to leave by all Abu Nidal’s name was made invisible in formal

paperwork or registration - both his rent and sala-ry were off the record. He fairly quickly learned to locate himself in the landscape of political divides in Lebanon and recognized that his presence in the country, like his Lebanese co-dwellers, is measured through sectarian lenses that perhaps in his case make him more “desirable” than others, and felt it in general.

I asked about his experiences at the General Se-curity Offices (GSO).

“Honestly, the trip to the GSO is like a punish-ment for any Syrian. As a Christian, I have been treated better than others generally, but still the trip to the GSO is punishment…

I feel the difference in treatment, for sure. I’m not thrilled to tell you this but in Lebanon, being a Christian has helped me a lot, a lot…”

Abu Nidal’s account does not differ at first glance from that of any other not-so-well-connected young Lebanese individual struggling to make it in his/ her country. Indeed, those who are not well placed or do not have access to a social (largely sectarian) net-work connecting them to the ruling class are forced to navigate a complex informal system to survive. He

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entire kafala thing was set up to track Syrians,

where they are and what they do and of course to extort the $200/year… Listen, the vast majority (of us) are considered illegal now.” […]

One main challenge Abu Nidal has faced with procedures is the lack of clear instructions given to Syrians in terms of residency permits since early 2015. Tellingly, the tab “Syrian and Palestinian Im-migrants” under “Residency Permits” on the website of the Lebanese general security went blank for sev-eral months in May 2017, while in September 2016 it contained details and categories of information on the requirements of residency renewal, echoing the informality of procedures which Syrian city dwellers are facing on daily basis. One common practice Syri-ans use to deal with this issue as I’ve encountered in my interviews, is that they call the allocated number for information at the GSO twice, leaving a couple of hours between calls to be sure to fall on another person to validate the answers they got the first time.

Part 3: A Life in transit

“I have no rights here. Even my residency is not of-ficial nor accepted internationally, I cannot even apply for a visa at an embassy. I may live here. I may buy a house and a car, but I am forbidden to work. I also cannot open a bank account legally. Of course, I ended up opening the account but I had to tap on my social network and I still cannot transfer or receive funds from this account. […] The documentation I have serves me as a sort of declaration that I live here - but gives me no real residency rights”.

“To tell you the truth, my life here is in transit - I could start “something”, and I’ve had friends who proposed it - but I don’t want to do what meansii_{. Since then, lawyers concur that it is virtually}

impossible for Syrian refugees to legally enter Leb-anon. Furthermore, a changing regulatory regime which extended for a period the so-called kafala

system to all Syrian workers (and has since changed partially) has made it particularly difficult for men to work legally.

The situation was further exacerbated by the in-formality through which the kafala regulation was/

has been enforced: regulations change, access to in-formation is difficult, and enforcement flaky at best. In consequence, the kafala (see p. 10) reinforced

Syrians’ dependence and vulnerability vis-à-vis the local population.

Abu Nidal has read how he is unwanted by the Lebanese communities on street markings and graffiti, felt it through the reactions he received to his Syrian accent and through numerous other inci-dents he has either experienced or read about in dai-ly papers. This feeling has been further entrenched by the legal restrictions imposed by the Lebanese government and their erratic enforcement. In 2015, Abu Nidal has had to add a new front to his surviv-al strategies: A Lebanese friend offered to act as his guarantoriii _{and provided him a kafala through the}

company she co-owned. Even with this readiness and support of his social network, the procedures to procure this new residency were challenging.

“It’s chaos - I can’t tell you how mixed up it is”, he

said. When I asked about the privileges he has due to the form of work kafala he had, he explained that

he was only guaranteed by a Lebanese who owns a company and that he, and practically nobody, actual-ly worked at the company that had guaranteed them.

“They (the government) said they would follow up to validate the ‘work guarantors and guaran-tees’, but no one will - they can’t! Anyway, this

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ly from Tripoli - and those are the individuals with the physical and mental endurance to make it to the ever-so-coveted and developed world. The Lebanese government’s decision to restrict and decrease the number of Syrians is as such succeeding - indeed, it is only the most disenfranchised who have to stay - the rest have either left or are in the process of leav-ing. In many ways, Abu Nidal’s account is a best case scenario, his conditions are much better than most refugees’. And he cannot wait to leave.

i _{The kafala regulation is highly contested as per numerous}

stud-ies, and labeled racist and against human rights

ii _{Minutes of meeting Lebanese Cabinet of Ministers, October 23,}

2014 http://www.pcm.gov.lb/arabic/subpg.aspx?pageid=6118

iii _{The author notes that kafala is widely translated as sponsorship,}

and has chosen to use guarantee / guarantor instead as this better reflects the legal responsibilities and implications of the regulation.

iv _{Abu Nidal insisted on the fact that all the work he has done in}

Lebanon has been with or for international NGOs or individuals, and he considers that his revenues have never been from a local Lebanese individual or company.

many other Syrians are doing: start a business under the name of a Lebanese individual with no real assurance that s/he will honor our agreement and with no protection for my investment and work. Others are even doing import export activi-ties, and live under kafala, they don’t have a work

permit! How could I accept that? I’ve applied for immigration; I hope that in the coming couple of months I will have moved out. You cannot live in a country where everybody is struggling, and where anyone can stop your advancement or put you out of work at any time. And let me tell you something, whatever money I made while I was here, I made from international organizationsiv_.

I have not taken a Lebanese dollar since I came.” I asked Abu Nidal whether he had ever tried to hide his Syrian accent.

“Oh yes, many times! But I can’t do it… I can pass for a Jordanian, and I try to speak less in certain situations. I never felt the need to hide that I was a Syrian except during my years here. I love life, but to be honest, I am unhappy here.”

Abu Nidal’s struggle reflects well today’s condi-tions of Syrians in Lebanon. Unable to leave, por-trayed as the aggressors: competing for jobs and for-eign aid while increasing the burden on an already fragile urban infrastructure, socially and administra-tively treated as second class dwellers.

Like every other Syrian I spoke with over the last 4 years, Abu Nidal has invested significant effort and resources into finding a legal way out of Lebanon. Those relative few who have succeeded are the ones with the better networks, higher education profiles and better prospects, in other words the “lucky” ones who score higher on foreign embassy check-lists. Another section of the Syrian population have chosen the illegal way out, travelling by boat

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يرﻮﺨﻟا ﺎﻤﻳد

More than five years into the “refugee crisis”, popular discourses and media debates in Lebanon still lack the vocabulary to describe the impressive competence of indi-viduals and groups fleeing a war-torn country and the resilience they have demon-strated in facing difficult residency in nearby host countries. In this collection of essays, scholars, writers, designers and artists have set out to contest the stereotypical representation of Syrian refugees as destitute, powerless and passive aid recipients. Through original research, direct documentation, analytical representations, and visual investigations, they present a kaleidoscope of refugees as workers, entrepre-neurs, dwellers, visitors, artists, artisans, students, drivers and –mostly– as active agents in the reconstruction of their livelihoods, as well as political subjects engaged in a reflection about the future of their country and the significance of their presence in today’s Lebanon. In doing so, the authors invite readers to reconsider the wide-spread conception of Syrian refugee presence as “a burden”, highlighting instead their important contributions in reimagining and enacting Lebanon’s cities and towns as places of refuge and diversity. Throughout these narratives, we read about coping mechanisms, ingenious schemes, but also abusive official policies and discriminatory legal frameworks that polarize social groups and undermine possibilities of collective reorganization and emerging solidarities.

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