Security That Protects: Informing Policy on Local Security Provision in Lebanese Communities Hosting Syrian Refugees

The purpose of this policy brief is to inform policy formulation on local level security provision and refugee protection, and to propose modalities for upgrading the sys- tems of the Lebanese security institutions in a way that strengthens protection of the Lebanese communities and the Syrian refugees they host. Based on eld research conducted between February and May 2016 in three locations across Lebanon, this brief analyses the challenges to protecting local communities and refugees in a hybrid system, in which formal and informal security actors coexist and implement a mix of security measures. It also argues that the current securitisation approach, which relies on negative deterrence, enhances perceptions of insecurity among the Lebanese and infringes on the rights and dignity of the refugees. This policy brief was developed within the framework of the Lebanon Support project – “Urban refugee protection in Lebanon’s hybrid security system: a research and action agenda” – in partnership with International Alert and with the support of WOTRO-NWO. It is based on Lebanon Support's report Crisis & Control, (In)Formal Hybrid Security in Lebanon.