Lebanon: arson completely destroys Syrian refugee camp
Audio 01:20
In the northern suburb of Tripoli, in Minieh, a camp was burnt down on December 27.
A criminal act whose flames have completely razed this makeshift camp where 75 families lived.
AFP - IBRAHIM CHALHOUB
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
In the northern suburbs of Tripoli, in Minieh, a camp was burnt down on Sunday.
A criminal act, which according to the inhabitants of the camp, would have been perpetrated by a Lebanese family who hired Syrians without paying them for several weeks.
As the workers demanded their wages, a fight allegedly broke out, the Lebanese torched their tents in retaliation.
The flames completely destroyed this makeshift camp where 75 families lived.
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With our special correspondent in Tripoli
,
Noé Pignède
“
Here, there was a carpet, some furniture, it was livable.
We were happy with what we had.
Now look, it's all destroyed.
I don't have the words to describe it.
"
Of Maqboula's small tent, only ashes remain.
Within hours, the camp where she lived was devoured by flames.
On the ground, she tries to collect what remains of her five years of life in Lebanon since leaving Syria, but everything went up in smoke.
“
We were sitting here around the stove in the tent with my family.
We heard screams, so we got out.
There was a fight, so we ran away with my four children and my granddaughter.
We are no longer welcome in this country.
In Lebanon as in Syria, we are condemned to live in hell.
"
Everyone here dreams of fleeing Lebanon, where acts against Syrian refugees have increased in recent months.
Sitting on a carpet in the ashes of her tent, a Syrian from Homs shows her arms covered in bruises.
She refuses to give us her name for fear of reprisals.
“
They beat me before they burned everything.
My son defended me.
I want to leave this country, there is too much injustice here.
I hope I can get away from here with my children,
”she said.
After several years of trying to build a new home away from home, the Syrian refugees in Minieh camp must start all over again, in a Lebanon plagued by the economic crisis, which has nothing more to offer them.
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To read: In northern Lebanon, a Syrian refugee camp set on fire after an altercation
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