"Crazy" EU asylum deal

This handshake could be really expensive

(Bild: AFP/JOSEPH EID)

In order to stop the influx of Syrian refugees from Lebanon, the EU Commission has promised the country financial aid amounting to around one billion euros. Brussels is counting on good cooperation to prevent illegal migration. Yet Lebanon has no proper political leadership - and that is just one of many problems.

Ursula von der Leyen wants to provide Lebanon with support worth one billion euros by 2027. The EU leader made the announcement on Thursday in Beirut in the presence of Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulidis.

In order to support the country in managing migration, the EU is committed to keeping legal routes to Europe open and resettling refugees from Lebanon to the EU. The money will also be used to support the Lebanese armed forces and other security forces. In addition, the aid is to be used to strengthen the health, education and social services in Lebanon.

So much for the theory. In practice, the promise already shows that the EU is no longer squeamish in its choice of partners.

Billion-euro deal for politically torn country
Von der Leyen described Lebanon as a "beautiful, diverse and vibrant country, full of energy and potential". However, the reality is that anarchy prevails in many places. There are hardly any economic structures and domestic political unrest dominates everyday life.

Listen to the press statement by the EU Commission President:

In contrast to the authoritarian states of Tunisia and Egypt - with which the EU has already concluded controversial agreements - Lebanon does not even have a head of state. For a year and a half, the election of a president has repeatedly failed due to power struggles within the political elite. The country is currently being run by Prime Minister Mikati on a caretaker basis. The government's ability to act is limited.

Danger in the south
In the southern part of the country, the terrorist militia Hezbollah (Party of God) is bombing Israel. Out of "solidarity" with Palestine and financed by the Iranian mullah regime. Brussels now wants to strengthen the country's armed forces in order to stabilize the situation in the country. However, the funds will primarily be used for material and training for border management.

The Iranian-financed Hezbollah militia has enormous influence in Lebanon.

(Bild: AFP/Amir Makar)

Whether a fraction of a billion euros - spread over several years - will be enough to establish effective border protection is more than questionable. Who is supposed to control how the money is actually used in a de facto leaderless country also leaves question marks. Experts are critical of von der Leyen's plans. "The EU is making a big mistake in Lebanon," said Riad Kahwaji, Director of the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis.

Criticism of the EU deal: "It's crazy"
Lebanon, with its major internal conflicts, is in no way ready to be a host country for refugees. The same politicians who are now receiving funds from the EU are calling on podiums to kick Syrians out of the country. "It's crazy to see that the Europeans believe in the illusion that the Lebanese authorities would be able to stem the flow of refugees," says Kahwaji.

Sustainable investment in Lebanon is difficult anyway. Its own currency and banking system is in tatters following a corruption scandal involving the national bank. Countless people have lost all their savings and large sections of the middle class are now living in poverty. Brussels therefore also wants to invest in economic and banking reforms. The EU leader sees this as a key to a long-term improvement in the country's overall economic situation. Improvements that should win back the trust of the international community and thus enable private sector investment.

Child labor on the rise in Lebanon
The country's disastrous economic situation is largely due to decades of corruption in politics and business. Almost a year ago, the UN Children's Fund UNICEF stated that one in ten families was forced to send their children to work.

Some families send children as young as four to work in the fields to help earn a living, the aid organization recently reported. Doctors report seven-year-olds with back problems because they have to carry heavy sacks of garbage every day. Many children are malnourished and many suffer from anxiety. In the south of Lebanon, the fighting between the Shia militia Hezbollah and Israel is plunging tens of thousands of children and young people and their families into misery, according to aid workers.

Rage within the population on the rise
Scapegoats are increasingly being sought for the many crises. In Lebanon, resentment towards refugees has increased significantly in recent months. There are now 1.5 million refugees there, the majority of whom are civil war refugees from Syria. Lebanon has a population of just 5.5 million. This means that 27% of the people living there are refugees - the highest refugee density in the world according to the UN.

Within the country, Syrians in particular are held responsible for the economic misery. At the beginning of April, a Christian Lebanese politician was killed by seven Syrian refugees, which intensified the hatred. According to human rights activists, Lebanese officials have been using discriminatory practices against Syrians for years in order to force them to return to Syria.

Human rights activists deplore torture methods
The human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that the Lebanese authorities have arbitrarily arrested, tortured and returned Syrians, including opposition activists and army defectors, to Syria in recent months.

Von der Leyen with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati (center) and Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulidis

(Bild: AFP/JOSEPH EID)

Contrary to the international majority, the Lebanese government is of the opinion that the civil war country is stable and safe enough to guarantee their return. What is not mentioned is that Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad also rejects the readmission of refugees. Returnees must expect political violence and persecution.

Outcry from Cyprus
Despite all the obvious resistance, the EU apparently felt compelled to act. The one billion euro deal came about primarily at the insistence of the Cypriot government. Syrians from Lebanon, around 160 kilometers away, were arriving almost daily by boat in the EU island republic in the eastern Mediterranean. Around 4,000 migrants have been counted since the beginning of the year. In the first quarter of the previous year, there were only 78.

Cyprus a powder keg?

• The refugee camps in Cyprus are overcrowded and the processing of asylum applications from Syrians has been temporarily suspended.
• Christodoulidis had repeatedly asked the EU for help because of the increase and called for a Lebanon deal similar to the agreement with Egypt and Tunisia.
• By way of explanation, the EU has recently reached new cooperation and support agreements with these countries, which include billions in financial aid.

In absolute figures, this is significantly less than in Italy, Spain and Greece, for example. However, measured against its population, nowhere in the EU are there as many asylum applications as in Cyprus. Due to the instability of the country, it is doubtful whether the situation can be alleviated by the injection of billions into Lebanon.