August

Another update from hot, sweaty and beautiful Beirut. Very busy weeks! Our new supervisor made us all work very hard and we were able to make real progress in our cases. The rest of the office started becoming aware of our little review project and were offering cases for review. I received a case of a man with a huge family who has been in Lebanon for over ten years. He made a lot of requests and has had many interviews over the years, resulting in his file being so big I could hardy close is. Reading through it was very interesting and educational; however I could not recommend any positive change in his situation afterwards. Some cases are just not eligible to be resettled to another state, no matter how badly they want it or how much it seems they deserve it! Unlike most people think it is not the UNHCR who decides if someone will be resettled or to which country. All we can do is present a refugee’s case to state (for instance to the Netherlands) and ask the state to accept the refugee. If they don’t accept the UNHCR can do nothing. Sometimes the state does not even give a reason, or it gives a general reason which basically does not tell you anything, like: we don’t believe his story (Which parts? Why not?). This can be frustrating for us, but even more so for a refugee. Sometimes people still think pleading, begging, shouting or even treating at the UNHCR office will change the decision… Then there are also refugees who tell us they don’t have any troubles in their own country but they would just really like to travel abroad. This can be understandable and even though they don’t face any problems, their situation might still be miserable at home. Unfortunately, states only accept refugees to be resettled to their country when they have valid story about persecution in their own country which makes it impossible for them to live there. I have seen by now many cases that do not fit these strict criteria, but still make you wish there was something more we could do for these people. Sometimes you’ll have to turn a case upside down and inside out to be able to find something that might indicate the criteria can somehow be met, but usually this will not really help a person.
Another very impressive experience this week was a visit to the central prison just outside Beirut. A few days ago I was allowed to tag along with a colleague who goes there often to interview refugees in prison. The central prison is a huge building consisting of several parts connected together by alley’s making it look like a Mercedes sign. There are blocks for minors, HIV patients, terrorism suspects and prisoners who are somehow able to pay for a more comfortable situation during their imprisonment. A small road up the mountains took us to the area of the prison. After several checkpoint, levers and controls of bag and passport by strict looking soldiers, we arrived at the gate were I had to leave my passport and MP-3 player (after some very strange looks at the instant noodles I forgot to take out of my bag I was allowed to take them with me). We walked up to the high impressive building and I saw clothes hanging out of the barred windows. Just when I was thinking what a poor escape attempt that would make, my colleague told me: ‘that’s how they dry their laundry’. Of course. Silly me. One heavy door opened and we stepped into a small barred corridor leading to another heavy door. While squeezed inside our bags were checked again and the other door, leading into the prison, was opened and closed behind us. The first thing I noticed was that the prisoners were just walking around in what seemed to be the reception area. I saw one uniformed men sitting, looking bored and making no attempt to assist us. I had to register and we walked some stairs and corridors to another area. Constantly people were walking around, greeting my colleague and looking at me suspiciously. Apparently they were allowed outside their sells to do work inside the prison. There is sort of an inner hierarchy which reminded me of the Cameroonian prison system in Kumba, though the current prison is a lot bigger and housing thousands of prisoners. There were hardly any guards inside and all the things we needed were arranged for us by other prisoners. We had four interviews. That is: my colleague had four interviews and I listened while hardy being able to understand a word of the conversation. The translation afterwards learned me that the men I met were Syrians and Iranians detained on suspicion or conviction for various crimes. The interview room was nice and light, though there were hardy windows. The high walls were painted and a few rooms away from us there was the library and the computer room, reminding me of a prison which was the complete opposite of Kumba Principal Prison, namely the English ‘private’ prison I visited in Notthingham. Of course here there were less books and computers, but it all looked very nice and clean. When I told my colleague I was very impressed by these facilities he told me they were new and funded by NGO’s and money from the European Union. Good to see our tax is also used for such purposes right? ;)
When we arrived back at the office it was only mid-day, but I felt completely exhausted and drained by our visit, but it was a very impressive and interesting experience. I really wish I could see more prisons here, but unfortunately this visit was an exception.

My internship here is now ending, but luckily I can stay to work for the UNHCR a few more months. I have reviewed many cases and my recommendations must be reviewed by my supervisor. Since we were not able to review all of them before the end of the internship I get to stay and finish my work. I am very happy about it, but I also look forward to visiting the Netherlands for two weeks mid-September. It will be a vacation :) I will take another mini-vacation the first and second of September when I go to Jordan to visit a colleague. Because of the unstable situation in the region I have not been able to travel outside of Lebanon at all, so I am very much looking forward to seeing Jordan.

So in two weeks I will be back in the Netherlands and hopefully I will see all of you then! Maybe there will be another update from Jordan, depending on how impressed I am with the country ;)

See you soon!
Marlies