The role of municipalities in ensuring stability

Zapater cites that responses to crises in Lebanon's Beka'a region in 2017 show that refugee-hosting municipalities can be a pillar of peaceful coexistence and must be supported. The eastern Lebanese region of Beka'a, which shares a long border with Syria, hosts around 360,000 registered Syrian refugees. This is both the highest absolute number among regions in Lebanon and also the highest proportion of refugees to local population. In 2017 the region experienced a series of upheavals which posed significant challenges to peaceful coexistence between host communities and refugees. In the eighth year of the Syrian conflict and with increased pressure on Syrian refugees to return to an unstable and dangerous situation, the international community needs to provide bolder, more purposeful support to Lebanese authorities. In a difficult environment in 2017 in the sensitive Beka'a region, municipal authorities have demonstrated they have more than earned the right to be a key recipient of and partner in this support.