Iraqis in Lebanon
Encyclopedia
Iraqis in Lebanon are people of Iraqi
origin residing in Lebanon
, which includes Lebanese citizens of Iraqi ancestry or more recently Iraqis seeking refuge in Lebanon, most as a direct result of the instability and violence that followed the 2003 invasion of Iraq
. Statistics for Iraqi refugees in Lebanon vary, but typically put the number at around 50,000 , although the latest statistics from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
put the current number of Iraqi refugees at just under 30,000 , and yet some say the number may be as high as 100,000..
of the Middle East
to further their careers. However, the first real influx of a large number of Iraqis to Lebanon started in earnest in the 1990s, with Iraqis fleeing Saddam Hussein's
regime as well as the hardships of international sanctions. Most of the Iraqis during this period were Shia, fleeing Saddam’s regime, or Christians, seeking exile in an Arab country with a significant local Christian minority population. Human Rights Watch puts the pre-2003 number of Iraqis in Lebanon at about 10,000.
, the first wave of Iraqi refugees fleeing the war began. By the middle of 2005, the number of Iraqis in Lebanon had doubled from the pre-Iraq War figure to 20,000. This number more than doubled with the second wave of Iraqi refugees fleeing the country after the February 2006 bombing of al-Askari Mosque in Samarra
. By 2007 the numbers of Iraqis in Lebanon increases to between 26,000 and 100,000, but usually set at 50,000 by international agencies. Reliable and irrefutable statistics are difficult to come by with the majority of refugees in legal limbo. Variations in statistics as well as many of the issues that Iraqi refugees in Lebanon face are also linked to the ‘invisible’ nature of urban refugees.
Of the 8,090 Iraqi refugees actively registered with the UNHCR in Lebanon, over half have arrived since 2009. Of the same group of refugees, most are either Christians
(42.0%) or Shia Muslims (39.2%) with a minority of Sunni Muslims
(15.6%) and other sects or religions, including Mandeans and Yezidis (less than 1%, each). Most Iraqis in Lebanon are from Baghdad, having entered the country via Syria.
effecting all aspects of life, including education, employment and health services. Men, women, and children are all effected by various issues to different degrees.
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
origin residing in Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, which includes Lebanese citizens of Iraqi ancestry or more recently Iraqis seeking refuge in Lebanon, most as a direct result of the instability and violence that followed the 2003 invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
. Statistics for Iraqi refugees in Lebanon vary, but typically put the number at around 50,000 , although the latest statistics from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees , also known as The UN Refugee Agency is a United Nations agency mandated to protect and support refugees at the request of a government or the UN itself and assists in their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to...
put the current number of Iraqi refugees at just under 30,000 , and yet some say the number may be as high as 100,000..
History
Iraqis have been present in Lebanon for decades, with many young Iraqi workers choosing to emigrate there to the ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
of the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
to further their careers. However, the first real influx of a large number of Iraqis to Lebanon started in earnest in the 1990s, with Iraqis fleeing Saddam Hussein's
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
regime as well as the hardships of international sanctions. Most of the Iraqis during this period were Shia, fleeing Saddam’s regime, or Christians, seeking exile in an Arab country with a significant local Christian minority population. Human Rights Watch puts the pre-2003 number of Iraqis in Lebanon at about 10,000.
Recent migration
After the 2003 invasion of Iraq2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
, the first wave of Iraqi refugees fleeing the war began. By the middle of 2005, the number of Iraqis in Lebanon had doubled from the pre-Iraq War figure to 20,000. This number more than doubled with the second wave of Iraqi refugees fleeing the country after the February 2006 bombing of al-Askari Mosque in Samarra
Samarra
Sāmarrā is a city in Iraq. It stands on the east bank of the Tigris in the Salah ad-Din Governorate, north of Baghdad and, in 2003, had an estimated population of 348,700....
. By 2007 the numbers of Iraqis in Lebanon increases to between 26,000 and 100,000, but usually set at 50,000 by international agencies. Reliable and irrefutable statistics are difficult to come by with the majority of refugees in legal limbo. Variations in statistics as well as many of the issues that Iraqi refugees in Lebanon face are also linked to the ‘invisible’ nature of urban refugees.
Of the 8,090 Iraqi refugees actively registered with the UNHCR in Lebanon, over half have arrived since 2009. Of the same group of refugees, most are either Christians
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
(42.0%) or Shia Muslims (39.2%) with a minority of Sunni Muslims
Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam. Sunni Muslims are referred to in Arabic as ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah wa āl-Ǧamāʿah or ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah for short; in English, they are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis or Sunnites....
(15.6%) and other sects or religions, including Mandeans and Yezidis (less than 1%, each). Most Iraqis in Lebanon are from Baghdad, having entered the country via Syria.
effecting all aspects of life, including education, employment and health services. Men, women, and children are all effected by various issues to different degrees.
Legal Status
Lebanon is not a signatory of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, nor the 1967 Protocol, leaving the 1962 law regarding the entry and stay of foreigners as the legal status determinant. 71 per cent of Iraqis surveyed in 2007 by the Danish Refugee Council had illegal status, and 95 per cent of respondents reached Lebanon by being smuggled across the Syrian-Lebanese border.Employment
Finding work for illegal Iraqi migrants is difficult, and most are employed in the unofficial sector.Education and health care
Since Iraqis rely on children as a source of income, impacting the enrollment levels for boys and girls. Other factors, including cost, lack of documentation as well as language difficulties from dialectal differences impact education for this population in general. Attendance rates in school amongst youths of the ages six to seventeen, range at around 58%, in which female enrollment is much higher at 63.7 percent, in comparison with 54.3 percent being males.Repatriation and resettlement
Many Iraqis chose to take refuge in Lebanon because of the notion that it was easier to get registered for resettlement in a third country with the UNHCR in Beirut. While the Lebanese government has not granted legal status to most Iraqi refugees, keeping them subject to detention and incarceration, it has granted short periods of amnesty for Iraqis who have overstayed their visas in the past.Palestinian Iraqis
Another issue facing Iraqis are those of Palestinian origin who have entered Lebanon illegally and have not registered with the PLO representative office in Lebanon, thus losing access to the UNRWA education and health services.Lebanese-Iraqi relations
In November 2007, the Iraqi government gave Lebanon $2 million to ‘soothe the burden’ of Iraqi refugees for Lebanon.Demographics
Amongst the adult population, 44 percent are single while 52 percent are married, in which a higher proportion of adult women are married whereas the men are single.Religious and ethnic affiliation
A survey recently released information that Muslim Shia are by far the majority of Iraqis in Lebanon at 51 percent, followed by Chaldean Catholics which stand at 19 percent, while Sunni Muslims only amount to 12 percent of the population.Notable Iraqi-Lebanese figures
- Haidar al-AbbadiHaidar al-AbbadiDr Haider Al-Abadi is an Iraqi politician and spokesman for the Islamic Call Party or Islamic Dawa Party.He was appointed Minister of Communications in the Iraqi Governing Council on 1 September 2003...
, Iraqi politician - Hussain Mohammed Al-Amily, author
- Suzanne AlaywanSuzanne AlaywanSuzanne Alaywan is a poet and painting artist. She has admitted to Joan Miro as being inspiration to her work, in addition to Japanese art.- Personal life :...
, poet and painting artist (Born in Beirut to a Lebanese father and Iraqi mother) - Omran Al-KaysiOmran Al-KaysiOmran Al-Kaysi is an award-winning artist, historian and art critic. He currently writes for the daily Lebanese newspaper, Kifaharabi and is a correspondent to a newspaper in Saudi Arabia.- Early life :...
, artist and historian (Iraqi father/Lebanese mother). - Iyad AllawiIyad AllawiAyad Allawi is an Iraqi politician, and was the interim Prime Minister of Iraq prior to Iraq's 2005 legislative elections. A prominent Iraqi political activist who lived in exile for almost 30 years, the politically secular Shia Muslim became a member of the Iraq Interim Governing Council, which...
, former Prime Minister of IraqPrime Minister of IraqThe Prime Minister of Iraq is Iraq's head of government. Prime Minister was originally an appointed office, subsidiary to the head of state, and the nominal leader of the Iraqi parliament. Under the newly adopted constitution the Prime Minister is to be the country's active executive authority... - Ahmad al-Safi al-Najafi, poet
- Salah al-Din al-SabbaghSalah al-Din al-SabbaghSalah al-Din al-Sabbagh was an Iraqi Army officer and Arab nationalist that led the Golden Square group which had opposed the government at the time and had highly influenced politics between the years of 1939 to 1941.-Early life and career:...
, (1889 - 1945) Iraqi Army officer (Lebanese father/Iraqi mother) - Muqtada al-SadrMuqtada al-SadrSayyid Muqtadā al-Ṣadr is an Iraqi Islamic political leader.Along with Ali al-Sistani and Ammar al-Hakim of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, Sadr is one of the most influential religious and political figures in the country not holding any official title in the Iraqi government.-Titles:He is...
, Iraqi Shi'a cleric of Lebanese ancestry - Ismail as-SadrIsmail as-SadrIsmail as-Sadr was a Lebanese Grand Ayatollah , a title which is used in Iran and Iraq referring to a Twelver Shi'a scholar who is a fully qualified mujtahid who asserts authority over peers and followers by virtue of sufficient study and achievement of the level of necessary competencey needed...
, Ayatollah - Safia Taleb Ali al-SuhailSafia Taleb Ali al-SuhailSafia Taleb Ali al-Suhail is an Iraqi politician and a member of the Council of Representatives of Iraq who was elected in December 2005 for the secular Iraqi National List.- Background :...
, Iraqi politician (Lebanese mother) - Rola BahnamRola BahnamRola Bahnam or often spelt Rula Bahnam, is an Iraqi Lebanese television presenter, mostly known for working in Future TV and now presenting the TV Show "Isma Wi Naseeb" "Perfect Bride" on LBC...
, television presenter - Leila BarclayLeila BarclayLeila Khoury Barclay is an American storyteller, journalist and founder of Al-Hakawati , an online provider dedicated to educating people on Arabic art, culture and history, in 2002...
, American journalist and storyteller (Born in Beirut to an Iraqi mother and Palestinian father). - Claudia BasrawiClaudia Basrawi- Early life :She was born in Beirut, Lebanon to an Iraqi father and a German mother. Basrawi grew up in the German city of Hannover where she had graduated from. She began her studies in Arabic Philology and Political Science at Berlin in 1982...
, German actress (Born in Beirut to an Iraqi father) - Nahla ChahalNahla ChahalNahla Chahal is a writer, journalist, researcher and activist, born to an Iraqi mother and Lebanese father, who were both communist militants. She was one of the leaders of the Organization of Communist Action of Lebanon and a participant in the Lebanese Communist Party. She is also a columnist at...
, writer, journalist, researcher and activist - Randa ChahalRanda ChahalRanda Chahal Sabbag also written Sabbagh, , was a Lebanese film director, producer and screen-writer born to an Iraqi mother and Lebanese father....
, film director (Iraqi mother/Lebanese father) - Péri CochinPeri CochinPérihane Chalabi Cochin is a French TV host with Iraqi Lebanese origins. She was born in Beirut on May 28, 1965 and grew up in Tyre in a Shi’a Muslim family. She left Lebanon for France in 1975 when the Lebanese Civil War broke.She lives in Paris where she married Guillaume Cochin, a famous French...
, television host - Hind Rassam CulhaneHind Rassam CulhaneProfessor Hind Rassam Culhane was born to an Iraqi father, a lawyer and a Lebanese mother, Sophie Bekhaazi who was a teacher....
, professor - Sayyed Mohammad Hussein FadlallahSayyed Mohammad Hussein FadlallahGrand Ayatollah Muhammad Hussein Fadl-Allāh was a prominent Lebanese Twelver Shi'a marja....
, Iraqi-born Lebanese Ayatollah - Raad GhantousRaad GhantousRaad Ghantous is an interior designer notably known for helping improve the appearance of the Cultural Center in San Clemente....
, interior designer - Bahaa HaririBahaa HaririBahaa Hariri is the eldest son of assassinated former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, brother of former Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri and a billionaire...
, billionaire and brother of Saad Hariri - Saad HaririSaad HaririSaad-eddine Rafiq Al-Hariri is a Saudi-Lebanese billionaire who served as the Prime Minister of Lebanon from 2009 until 2011. He is the second son of Rafiq Hariri, the former Lebanese Prime Minister who was assassinated in 2005...
, politician (Iraqi mother) - Jana El Horr, activist
- Remy MunasifiRemy MunasifiRemy Munasifi is an Arab American stand-up comedian, parody musician and video artist who made it internet famous after his production of comedic sketches based on Arabs under the name "GoRemy" on YouTube and has gained over 70 million views.- Personal life :Munasifi was born in Washington, D.C...
, comedian also known as GoRemy - Victor NacifVictor NacifVictor Nacif is the Vice President of Design at Nissan Design Europe.He is a Mexican of Lebanese and Iraqi Assyrian descent, after migrating to the United States as a child, he quickly became fluent in English...
, Vice President of Design Business Aspects for Nissan Design America - Sharif Hikmat NashashibiSharif Hikmat NashashibiSharif Hikmat Nashashibi to a Palestinian-Jordanian-Lebanese Muslim father and an Iraqi-Syrian Christian mother. He is co-founder and chairman of the British based organization, Arab Media Watch....
co-founder and chairman of Arab Media WatchArab Media WatchArab Media Watch is a London-based media watchdog organization with the stated aim of working toward objective British media coverage of the Arab world. Founded in 2000, by Sharif Hikmat Nashashibi, Arab Media Watch is the "only organization of its kind in the UK". The organization monitors... - Sheila Savar, founder of Savar & Associates
- Aida SchlaepferAida SchlaepferAida Schlaepfer is a Swiss film director and writer. Born in Baghdad, to a Lebanese mother and an Iraqi father, and spending her life between her parents two countries, Schlaepfer has experienced living in a war-torn country and is aware of how this can affect an entire life...
, filmmaker - Sahar TahaSahar TahaSahar Taha is an Iraqi musician and journalist living in Lebanon who co-hosts the Lebanese programme Banat Hawa on LBC. She is best known for playing the oud in both eastern and western music.-Early life and career:...
, Iraqi artist, married to a Lebanese now living in Lebanon. - Jalal TouficJalal TouficJalal Toufic is a Lebanese artist, filmmaker and author of various publications, most notably for . Born to an Iraqi father and a Palestinian mother, he has lived in Lebanon for about seventeen years, and his work often reflects his heritage, one of the world's most destroyed two...
, artist - Karen El ZeinKaren El ZeinKaren El Zein is a senior programme specialist at the eGovernment Authority in Bahrain, working in the governmental sector of Bahrain as a project manager for the GAID Alliance Bahrain office initiative has allowed her to work in conjunction with Talal Abu-Ghazalah Organization.- Early life and...
, a senior programme specialist at the eGovernment Authority in BahrainBahrain' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...
. (English-Iraqi mother and Lebanese father).
See also
- Iraq-Lebanon relations
- Iraqi refugees
- Iraqis in SyriaIraqis in SyriaIraqis in Syria are Syrian citizens of Iraqi origin or, more commonly today, Iraqis who are seeking refuge or better opportunities inside Syria...
- Lebanon: Refugees
External links
Further reading
- Sasson, J. (2011). The Iraqi Refugees: The New Crisis in the Middle East. New York: I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd.