Syrian Refugees Find it Hard to Get Jobs in Lebanon

ACTNews, ARSAL - Turkey, Jordan and, Lebanon have long been the most reasonable destinations for millions of Syrians who want to flee and seek refuge. Geographically, the three countries are located adjacent to Syria, and the Syrians need only to cross the borders to get to these countries.

Nearly eight years since the conflict negatively affected the life of the Syrians, most refugees choose to live in the City of Arsal, a Lebanese city that borders. In the city of Arsal, Syrian refugees live in camps with very limited conditions.

Although Lebanon is considered safer because it is located far from conflict, there are not many Syrian refugees in Arsal City who are able to adapt to survive. "Even for the local Lebanese, finding job opportunities is difficult, let alone for the Syrian refugees." said Mustafa Kanaan, a Global Qurban partner in Syria.

According to Mustafa, the local residents of Arsal City only rely on three sources of income: agriculture, trade, empowerment programs for 60% of the workforce who live in the village. As a result, a small number of Syrian refugees can only work in the trade sector, earning only low income.

"Not to mention that the prices of the basic needs in the city of Arsal are very expensive. Food, clothes, medical services, even room heaters can be very expensive and unaffordable for almost all Syrian refugees," Mustafa added.

Such hardship was experienced by Ramez Al Asi (45), one of the Syrian refugees living in the City of Arsal, Lebanon. Ramez went away from Syria to Arsal City with seven members of his family. Previously in Syria, Ramez worked in agriculture.

"However, after moving here (Arsal City), my new job is not able to finance all the needs of my family members. To fulfill our daily needs is difficult, let alone to buy things for Eid-ul-Adha. We cannot afford animals to sacrifice, " Arsal said.

Arsal became one of the Syrian refugees in Lebanon who received qurbani meat from Global Qurban, then Eid al-Adha 2018. Bringing Qurbani from Indonesia, Global Qurban partners in Lebanon visited a number of refugee camps in Arsal City and also the Bekaa Valley.

"Alhamdulillah, we have completed the distribution of qurbani packages for as many as 546 Syrian refugees. We hope that in Eid al-Adha 2019 we can return here (to Lebanon) to bring qurbani from Indonesia," said Mustafa. []