Urban Refugees in Lebanon: Housing, Residency, and Wellbeing

This is an output from a project that was part of the fifth Applied Research Fund (ARF) on mixed migration flows. The ARF is executed by NWO-WOTRO in close collaboration with the Platform. The call aims to strengthen the evidence-base for security and rule of law policies and programming, addressing the root causes, and the dynamics and consequences of mixed migration flows within and from fragile and conflict-affected settings.

Lebanon hosts over a million Syrian refugees in addition to other displaced groups. These refugees have gravitated to urban centres, putting significant pressure on local infrastructure and services. Living in close proximity to one another, hosts and refugees face significant challenges to their wellbeing. While some of these challenges are distinct, such as legal residency, others, such as housing are shared. Addressing these challenges should be a priority for national and municipal governments, and humanitarian and development agencies. Urban informal settlements, official Palestinian camps, and unofficial ‘gatherings’ are key localities for intervention.