Derbas Says More than 1,250 Random Refugee Camps in Lebanon

Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas revealed on Sunday that there are around 1,250 Syrian refugee camps distributed across Lebanese territories, stressing that there are certain standards established to organize their movement from and to their country.

“We are not being racist but there are around 1,250 random Syrian refugee camps,” Derbas said in comments to LBCI.

He noted that only Syrians coming from “unsafe zones” in their country will be classified as refugees.

“We have the complete records of the Syrian refugees in Lebanon,” Derbas said.

Most Syrian refugees in Lebanon live in informal camps dotted around the country, mainly in border areas in the north and east.

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq announced on Saturday that Syrian refugees in Lebanon will lose their status as such if they return home for a visit.

More than a million Syrians have fled their war-torn country for Lebanon in the past three years, according to the United Nations.

"Syrian displaced people who are registered with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees are requested to refrain from entering into Syria starting June 1, 2014, or be penalized by losing their status as refugees in Lebanon," said the interior ministry.

The statement, published by the National News Agency, said the measure is grounded "in a concern for security in Lebanon and the relationship between Syrian displaced and Lebanese nationals... and in a bid to prevent any friction between them."

The decision, which takes effect Sunday, comes two days after tens of thousands of Syrians flocked to their Beirut embassy to vote in the election.

The refugee influx into Lebanon has burdened the country's weak economy, with politicians on all sides calling for measures to limit the flow.

Lebanon has not signed the Convention on Refugees, and refers to Syrians forced out of their country by war as "displaced."

The authorities say the actual number of Syrians in Lebanon is far higher than the nearly 1.1 million accounted for by UNHCR.

Lebanon has frequently complained it lacks the necessary resources to cope with them, and that the labor market is struggling to accommodate them.