Syrian Fault Lines in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley
Over the course of Syria's devastating war Lebanon has taken in a staggering 1 million Syrian refugees putting a tremendous strain on the country's economy, politics, and security situation. Meanwhile aid agencies have struggled to address the needs of refugee communities traumatised by conflict. This feature article was written in May 2013 based on first hand interviews with Syrian refugees forced from their homes by conflict in the Syrian town of Qusair, bordering Lebanon's Bekaa valley, and divided in their new surroundings by contrasting political allegiances.
ARSAL, Lebanon — In a former classroom in Arsal, Sekra al-Ahmad, 60, gently grips the forearm of her grandson. With her other hand she gently applies a lotion to a shallow wound near the child’s elbow, the result of government shelling that claimed the life one of Ahmad’s other grandchildren in Qusair. As lotion meets flesh he begins to resist. But Ahmad tuts away the boy’s protests and continues with the task at hand.
Three other families congregate alongside Ahmad’s in the classroom, part of a disused school complex leased by a local sheikh to cater to the growing influx of Syrian refugees into the area. The classroom now serves as an all-purpose salon, bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom. Others sleep out in the courtyard in tents.
Ahmad left Qusair 15 days ago as fighting between the Syrian army backed by Hezbollah and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) escalated in Homs province.
“We left without anything. We did not even have time to take the injured to the hospital. We just left them there on the ground,” she said.
Ahmad reflected on how times have changed since 2006, when families from Qusair provided Lebanese Shiites fleeing the Bekaa and south Lebanon safe haven in their homes during the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict.
“We never had problems with Hezbollah. In 2006 we let Lebanese Shiite families stay in our houses. We gave them shelter and food. But it wasn’t enough — now they want to take our houses and see our destruction,” she said.
As fighting between the Assad regime backed by Hezbollah and the FSA has intensified in Qusair, Syrian refugees – both supporters of the embattled Syrian regime and the opposition FSA — have flooded into Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, seeking refuge among communities favorable to their plight. Their arrival has served to sharpen the political dividing line in Lebanon. From Akkar in the north down to Lebanon’s Bekaa hinterland, various communities, with their differing allegiances, are increasingly being drawn into the Syrian conflict.
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