In photos: The Syrian women and children waiting in the shadows of Lebanon's refugee camps

As Lebanon tries to welcome and attract with one arm, it is pushing back hard with the other. Photojournalist Paddy Dowling reports

Of its 6 million population, Lebanon has 1 million Syrian refugees and around 450,000 Palestinian refugees (Photos Paddy Dowling)

I travel with Muslim Aid’s team along Saida Highway to down town from Beiruts Rafic Hariri Airport, we pass the endless metal working spaces sandwiched into small industrial units in the suburbs and it’s not long until we are reminded of the scars on the urban landscape as to Lebanons past.

Our large black American SUV glides through the city centre road shadowed by towering highrise apartment blocks riddled with bullet and mortar holes. This is a country that has been torn apart since 1975 by civil war. The Syrian war, raging since 2011 has resulted in enormous loss of life and displaced more than a million refugees.

As Lebanon tries to welcome and attract with one arm it is pushing back hard with the other. “Our homes are not for strangers” is the circular issued from the municipality of Bcharre forbidding Lebanese landlords from renting properties to displaced Syrian families and requiring the expulsion of those already in residence.

In fact, since 2016, 3,664 Syrian nationals were evicted from their homes from 13 municipalities and a further 42,000 refugees remain at risk. Syrian refugees are experiencing an increased hostility and pressure to leave Lebanon from certain politicians and municipal police.

However, this is not the feeling on the street in Lebanon; there is real compassion and sympathy from landlords, employers and neighbours to what is perhaps the world’s greatest humanitarian crisis. Lebanese families have been known to take in refugees, also help set them up with furniture for their homes.

Lebanon is a country with a population standing at 6.1 million, of which 1 million are Syrian refugees and around 450,000 Palestinian refugees.

The United Nations Refugee Agency UNHCR claim that Syrian refugees in Lebanon are more vulnerable than ever before. More than half are living in extreme poverty and three quarters living below the poverty line. Children and young people comprise more than half of the numbers displaced and are increasingly vulnerable with 35% of refugee children still out of school across the region. The crisis is now in its seventh year and there appears to be no signs of any ceasefire or sensible discussions to see the 12.6M Syrian refugees return to their homes. There is need for calm from Lebanon’s government and municipalities to be patient and an even greater need for global humanitarian assistance.

Muslim Aid has been active in Lebanon since 2006 with educational, emergency and health projects for Palestinian and relatively more recently Syrian refugees.

With Beirut behind us and as we pass through Tripoli we find ourselves in A-kkar home to 125,000 Syrian and Palestinian refugees making up around a third of its population. We peel off the main road and enter down a track to find ourselves at Sulayman Camp nestled in amongst residential areas of the town and endless poly tunnels growing fruit & vegetables. It doesn’t take long to see the great work being carried out by a whole raft of INGOs here.

As we move through the camp talking to families about their individual journeys to becoming refugees in Lebanon, what is apparently clear is their complete gratitude for the help and assistance they had received from donors. These peaceful people all have similar stories of how lives were sacrificed and changed forever with a knock at the door from both the regime army and rebel soldiers equally. Everyone has suffered here and the suffering continues. Muslim Aid Food voucher scheme is literally sustaining and changing lives in these camps. Many of Sulayman’s residents had previously been surviving on donated bags of mouldy bread and some even fasting voluntarily long before the start of Ramadan.

There are small glimmers of hope here towards creating new lives for the Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

A girl looks out across the Enmaa Camp. The 250 tents have been squeezed onto a small plot of land amongst a smart residential neighbourhood and acres of poly tunnels growing fruit and vegetables (Paddy Dowling)

Muslim Aid’s microfinancing schemes are having the most incredible results through economic empowerment. There specific programmes are specially designed to help people who have been struck by hardship and need help in making ends meet.

There is no better example of this than a beneficiary of the Muslim Aid scheme, 16-year-old Homam, originally from Homs now a resident of Qalamoon in Lebanon. He had the desire and determination to change his life and he needed $1,000 to achieve this. He has subsequently opened a small business selling and repairing mobile phones to both Syrians and Lebanese customers. He has already repaid his start up loan back to the scheme and has turned the initial investment into $10,000. He has plans to open another shop soon and maybe one day start his own chain of stores.

These microfinancing and vocational training schemes enable refugees to develop the skills required to realise entrepreneurialism and be able to provide for themselves and their families, and it is working. Not only do they feel a sense of general well-being but they can also contribute to society, and if Saad Hariri’s government can hold their nerve and resist the impulse to start solving the problem of the refugee population by forced repatriation there may just be hope yet.

Muslim Aid is raising money to supply the basics of food, mattresses, blankets and other essential items for Syrian Refugees across several camps in Lebanon. To donate visit www.muslimaid.org