Social Cohesion and Intergroup Relations: Syrian Refugees and Lebanese Nationals in the Bekaa and Akkar | Ifi Policy Memo

Policy Memo | June 2014
Social Cohesion and Intergroup Relations: Syrian Refugees and Lebanese Nationals in the Bekaa and Akkar by Charles Harb and Reem Saab
The growing influx of Syrian refugees to Lebanon has strained its socio-economic fabric, piling pressure on employment opportunities, housing, trade, and infrastructure capacities (basic services). Tensions between Syrian refugees and their Lebanese host communities have led to intercommunity clashes, and it thus becomes imperative to identify the indicators of social instability and ways to reduce them. A research project initiated by Save the Children (SC) and in association with faculty at AUB assessed the social psychological dimensions of Syrians and Lebanese relations in the Bekaa, Sahel Akkar and Wadi Khaled.