Lebanese, Syrians clash in Dora amid growing anti-refugee sentiment
Army troops were deployed overnight around a sewing factory where a major clash erupted between Lebanese and Syrian men.
The clash erupted on Thursday night near the Saint Maron Church in Dora after a road accident between a motorcyclist and a woman driving an SUV. The woman called the owner of a sewing factory, who's apparently a friend or a sibling. When the fight broke out, the factory's Syrian workers rushed to help their boss, witnesses said.
The region's residents said they intervened after the Syrian workers insulted the Lebanese man.
After searching the factory Friday, the army found no weapons. Eight Syrians who were involved in the fight were arrested and handed over to General Security. They had no residency papers.
"Around 600 residents encircled the factory's building where the Syrian workers were and tried to break the door before the army arrived and stopped them," a Dora resident said. "Imagine what could have happened had we managed to open the door!"
Lebanon has seen anti-Syrian sentiment soar recently as some officials seek to blame refugees for the country's woes.
The crisis-hit country hosts some 805,000 registered Syrian refugees, whose official status in theory protects them — although those who fail to keep their residency papers up to date can face deportation. The actual number of Syrians living in Lebanon after fleeing their country's 12-year-old civil war is believed to be much higher. Government officials have given varying estimates of the number of Syrians in the country, ranging from 1.5 million to more than 2 million.
Since Lebanon's economic meltdown began in 2019, officials have increasingly called for a mass return of Syrians, saying they are a burden on the country's scarce resources and that much of Syria is now safe.
Caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi on Wednesday warned that the Syrian presence in Lebanon has become a “security threat,” calling for strict measures.
Source: Naharnet
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