Reading and observing

After two weeks I am starting to develop a rhythm in parts of my days here, for instance to look at the light on my laptop to see if there is power that morning. The power gets cut a few hours every day, but you don’t know which hours and in the morning is especially irritating for me. The UNHCR has a generator so there I won’t notice the power cuts. Another thing I am trying to get used to is taking a taxi to work every morning. Fortunately it is not expensive but I am still learning to make sure the driver has understood me about the price because already twice I’ve had to pay too much. When the misunderstanding becomes clear at the end of the ride and the driver demands more money or doesn’t give change there’s no way to argue with the fast, loud and mostly Arabic explanation of the driver, but I always tell myself: next time I check it twice before getting in the car! Going back home from work I like to walk by the seaside, but it takes about an hour so I only do it if I have time and if the weather allows it (but it has been nice an sunny all week now :) )

Something else new and interesting is the Lebanese food. Not just the restaurants but the food (lunch and breakfast!) my mostly Lebanese colleague’s bring to the office and kindly offer me to try when I ask what it is. I haven’t tasted a single Lebanese dish I didn’t like so far, so that’s not very good for my diet (I’ve been told all Lebanese woman go on a diet when summer is approaching, which explains everyone’s enthusiasm to share their food with me ;) People here seem very concerned with there appearance. Not only to be slim, but also to wear fashionable (tight) clothing, make-up and high heels. When walking in the going-out area on Saturday night all the high heels, short skirts, layers of make-up and perfectly groomed hair of the women around me made me almost uncomfortable in my jeans, all stars and long-sleeved shirt. I say almost, because I rather feel a little different then walk around the traitorously small and uneven sidewalks with their many holes, on stiletto heels. But I must admit I am partly this harsh on Lebanese woman because I am jealous of their beauty which is evident despite their make-up and fancy outfit.
The men are not above this either might I add! No make-up ;) but blackberry’s and huge cars seem to be mandatory! The blackberry’s I can sort of understand, but the big jeeps are downright the most unpractical cars to have in this city! The streets are small, the traffic is crazy and there are barely parking spaces! But most importantly: almost all the people driving those cars don’t need them! They have them for status purposes only! Appearance again ;) On that area I’ll probably won’t blend in here (no blackberry and even in a Beatle I’ll get myself killed before the end of the street!)

Back to the main reason I came to Lebanon: my internship. The last two weeks I have mostly been reading and got briefings by the different units about their tasks and activities. The reading is very interesting! It is mostly about Iraq, the situation of refugees in Lebanon and the activities of the UNHCR. When you come to seek asylum in Lebanon after you’ve fled Iraq you have three options after you’ve been given refugee status by the UNHCR:
1) Go back to Iraq (not a realistic option considering the security situation there)
2) Integrate in Lebanon (not really possible since Lebanon doesn’t recognize your refugee status)
3) Resettle to a third country (like the Netherlands or the USA).
Since the last is basically the only feasible option, almost all refugees have to be resettled. This is not easy. Almost every resettlement country has a quota on how many refugees are invited to come to their country for resettlement (the Netherlands for instance invite about 500 refugees every year, but not only from Iraq of course!). If during your interviews with the UNHCR you lie about your situation in Iraq (because you’re scared, you want to make your situation look more severe, or others told you to lie) or if you give fraudulent documents (false ID, false birth/death certificate ect.) it will be very difficult to resettle you because countries will think you’ve lied about other things as well. Also, if you’ve committed a crime (severe, but not big enough to exclude you from being given refugee status) countries will also prefer not resettling you in their country. This way, a group exists in Lebanon of who the UNHCR at first glance thought they couldn’t be resettled. However, they cannot stay in Lebanon and they cannot go back, so what must happen with these people? Their fills have not been attended to for a while and for the next few months I will be reviewing those cases in-dept and give a recommendation on how to proceed. As you can imagine, I need to know everything about all the UNHCR criteria and procedures, Lebanese laws and Iraqi history before I can give any kind of useful recommendation. Hence the reading :)

So, I hope my activities are a bit more clear now. Please be aware that this is the situation and the work in a, hopefully understandable, nutshell, and that there is much more to tell and explain!

But first: it is almost weekend and I am planning to enjoy the good weather, the friendly shops and the good food a little more! Hope you all have a great weekend as well!

Marlies