The European Commission is constantly looking for new partners to stop migrants. After deals with dictatorial regimes in Tunisia and Egypt, Ursula von der Leyen is heading to Lebanon today. The President of the European Commission will propose a support package – not a deal – that, among other things, should curb migration to the EU.
This concerns an as yet unknown amount that should primarily serve to prop up the disastrous Lebanese economy. The Commission emphasizes the importance of stability in the region, now that there is war in Gaza and tensions are rising between Israel and Iran. At the same time, the European aid package should serve to “help Lebanon to manage its borders”.
In contrast to the deals with Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania, this time the European Commission remains remarkably vague about its migration plans in Lebanon. Commission spokespersons yesterday declined to confirm on the record that migration will be a priority during the talks. “There is no question of a deal.”
Leverage against smuggling
The cabinet of Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Open VLD) was informed on April 24 about the focus on migration in the support package. “It is a good thing that migration and the protection of our borders are included in a broader package of the general economic development of partner countries,” said De Croo’s spokesperson. “The support package for Lebanon creates leverage for Europe to combat human smuggling on the ground.”
The company with which Von der Leyen travels to Beirut is also significant. The committee chairman will be accompanied in Lebanon by Nikos Christodoulides, the President of Cyprus. The Cypriot government saw the number of Syrian refugees from Lebanon increase this year to 3,594, compared to 78 in the same period in 2023. Cyprus has been lobbying for a migration agreement with Lebanon for months in various ways. In April, it even took the drastic – and according to critics, illegal – measure of suspending asylum procedures for Syrians. In their own words to put pressure on the EU to recognize parts of Syria as “safe”. For example, asylum seekers from those regions could be sent back to the country at war, which is experiencing the heaviest escalation of violence in years.
NGOs are not happy with the European plans in Beirut. For example, 11.11.11 expects that a possible agreement with Lebanon will lead to “more deaths, more violence and more irregular migration”. The umbrella organization refers to a United Nations report from March. It reports three hundred Lebanese pushbacks and deportations in 2023, with 13,772 Syrians being illegally returned to their country.
Economic crisis
The situation in Lebanon shows the tragedy of the often advocated shelter in the region. The vast majority of Syrian refugees are hosted in neighboring countries Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon. But they are increasingly in danger there. Lebanon, which is struggling with a derailing economic crisis, has been hosting 1.5 to 2 million Syrians for more than ten years. According to the UN, almost 90 percent of them live below the extreme poverty line.
Just as in Turkey, the presence of millions of Syrians is causing enormous tensions. Lebanon has failed to successfully integrate refugees into its small population of three and a half million Lebanese. Hardly a week goes by without racist incidents. At a political level, pressure is increasing to increase the number of deportations to Syria. While the war is still raging fiercely there and the dictator Bashar al-Assad – from whom many Syrians fled – is more firmly in the saddle than ever.
“This is a sustainable way to combat migration,” says De Croo. The Prime Minister previously said that the success of the European migration pact will depend on “whether the influx is brought under control”. “It is a good thing that Europe is taking a more active role in the region. We are the first to bear the consequences of instability.”
