Research

Contemporary essays, articles and abstracts on the refugee crisis and how digital solutions like urban refuge are making an impact

What are the Barriers to Accessing Aid Resources among Syrian Refugees in Beirut, Lebanon?

by tima dasouki

Today, 55% of the world’s population lives in urban areas and by 2050, it is projected to be 66%. The world’s urban refugee population mirrors a similar trend. There are currently 25.9 million refugees in the world and according to UNHCR, 60% of them reside in urban areas. Of the 29.5 million refugees, 6.7 million of them were displaced from the ongoing Syrian crisis (UNHCR).

Refugees, at large, choose to reside in urban areas because of the increased freedom and mobility they enjoy away from camps. When living in urban settings, refugees are free to choose their places of education, work and residence according to their family needs (UNHCR). That way, they are in control of their personal and family lives. Despite the increased infrastructure and chance for opportunity, refugees find themselves struggling to access aid or resources. In this paper, I want to tackle the question: why is there a gap between service provision and service access for Syrian refugees in urban settings in Lebanon? More specifically, why do Syrian refugees in Beirut face more barriers to aid access in urban areas than in refugee camps?

I chose to address Syrian refugees in Beirut because Lebanon hosts the largest number of refugees per capita with 1.5 million Syrian refugees (UNHCR). Since Lebanon is not hosting any refugees in formal refugee camps, over a million of the Syrian refugees in Lebanon live in urban settings (UNHCR). With such a vast population of urban refugees in Beirut, refugees are more vulnerable to information asymmetries and lack of aid access. Additionally, the rumors and scapegoating of Syrian refugees and the language barriers that Syrian refugees face in Lebanese schools contribute to my overall argument about the impact of information asymmetries on refugees.

To address my question, I will first present alternate positions which argue that refugees struggle to access aid in urban areas because of their limiting legal status and a lack of supporting urban infrastructure. To argue against the legal status argument, I will draw upon cases of Syrian refugees in Greece to illustrate that since Syrian refugees can easily gain legal status but choose not to, legal status is not the sole hindrance to aid access. To dispute the resource scarcity argument, I will present data that highlights the higher amount of healthcare and educational resources in urban areas vs. camps. I will then present my main argument that the lack of aid access is rather a larger issue of information asymmetries which include a distrust of authorities, rumors and language barriers. To support my argument, I highlight three important factors that contribute to information asymmetries in Lebanon: 1. NGO and government failures to provide consistent and reliable information flows to refugees creates information vacuums and distrust in these organizations and their aid services 2. The information vacuums created by institutional incompetence and a resulting lack of consistent, easily accessible and concrete information allow rumors to flourish which further prevent refugees from accessing aid and 3. language barriers prevent Syrian refugees in Lebanon from accessing vital services like education. Finally, I will present an example of an innovative solution to mending the gap using the Urban Refuge app as a case study.

Through this research, I aim to highlight the way information asymmetries can hinder refugees from accessing important services like healthcare and education. Oftentimes NGOs and governmental institutions contribute most of their funding to coordinate information among themselves and underestimate the importance of coordinating information to refugees. This creates an information vacuum among refugees and distrust of aid organization due to a lack of coordination. In situations where information asymmetries among refugee populations exist, more harm is brought to these already vulnerable populations. Syrian refugees in Lebanon are well educated and have high work capacities but this aid gap is preventing them from applying their relevant work skills and accessing vital resources in their host country.