Focus on Lebanon
This page was created in the aftermath of the August 4, 2020 Beirut explosion, which devastated the city and exacerbated Lebanon’s already failing economy and social inequities.
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Our goal for this page is to provide a space where you can find current analysis on Lebanon’s recovery. BCARS members, notably Rami Khouri among others, provide that analysis. We also suggest places where you can help the people of Lebanon, including Palestinian and Syrian refugees, among other vulnerable communities suffering from ills before and after August 4.
Please consider downloading the Lebanese Red Cross app and making a donation.
A complete list of local and international NGOs working directly on disaster relief, as well as interconnected issues across Lebanon, can be found here. ​
Follow international journalist and BCARS Executive Committee member, Rami Khouri, for his timely and cutting analysis on current events in Lebanon.
Tarek Masoud (Middle East Initiative, Harvard) and Rami Khouri on the future of Lebanon after the Beirut blast
Find all of Rami Khouri's op-eds in Agence Global here
Follow Rami on Twitter: @RamiKhouri
Watch and Listen!
"Has justice been served in the assassination of Rafik Hariri?"
Rami Khouri on Al Jazeera's "Inside Story"
"Key Issues in Today's Lebanon" interview with German Radio
Special Report from ANERA:
"Rebuilding Beirut: The World Responds After Blasts Rock Lebanon's Capital
BCARS Research on Lebanon
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Patrilineal Citizenship and Legacies of Colonialism in Jordan and Lebanon
December 2020: Patrilineal citizenship refers “to the mechanism by which membership and identity in kin groups follows male descent.” As such, the transfer of legal nationality can only be done by a father or other male relatives. Although patrilineal citizenship laws are common across the MiddleEast and North Africa, they are especially problematic in places that are also home to large populations of refugees and migrants like Jordan and Lebanon.
Undocumented in Lebanon: Gendered Challenges and Coping Strategies of Stateless Persons and Refugees in Tripoli
August 2020: In Lebanon, the experiences of statelessness manifest in a variety of ways and present different challenges for the country’s diverse populations. This report focuses specifically on Tripoli, Lebanon’s second largest city. Emerging from 40 years of conflict, Tripoli is characterized by extreme poverty, marginalization by the state, political sectarianism, and the presence of a growing number of refugees.
Citizenship in Context: Lebanon
April 2019: Lebanon is a place where plurality abounds. The struggle to unite so many people with different national origins, religious backgrounds, and political leanings has come to define the country over time. In this context, those who are lacking citizenship rights, classified as “stateless” people in Lebanon, and those at risk of statelessness, are among the most vulnerable and marginalized people in the country, facing a range of restrictions on their access to basic rights and services. Stateless Lebanese, Palestinians residing in Lebanon, refugees, migrants, trafficked individuals, and children all experience statelessness, placing their citizenship rights in jeopardy.
The Campaign to End Statelessness and Perfect Citizenship in Lebanon
November 2019: This report provides background information on statelessness in Lebanon, examines legal and policy barriers to obtaining and perfecting citizenship, proposes solutions, and discusses the progress that has so far been made. The report incorporates research and fieldwork conducted over the course of a year from stakeholders, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and other experts about the key issues affecting statelessness and the risk of persons becoming stateless in Lebanon.