Official visit to Akkar
German ambassador at our camp school
On Wednesday, 11 March, the German ambassador to Lebanon visited our informal camp school in Akkar and participated afterwards in a lunch with members of our regional Steering Committee in Bkarzla, the village of our first Peace Centre.
It was the first visit of ambassador Christian Clages to Akkar, at the Northern border of Lebanon. This region receives very few official visits because of security and difficult access from Beirut. It is the poorest region of Lebanon that is welcoming today the highest number of Syrian refugees per head: about 200,000 Lebanese are living side by side with 150,000 refugees. People here feel neglected and abandoned by the central government and the international community.
At our informal camp school, the ambassador received an enthusiastic welcome by the students and could hear first-hand stories from Syrian refugees about their difficulties and their harsh condition. The biggest concerns communicated to Mr Clages were the total absence of certainty with regard to the refugee status in Lebanon, the lack of education for the youth and the lack of proper medical facilities. The German delegation was urged to renew the resettlement programme by the German government to give threatened refugees a way out.
At the lunch at the river restaurant of Bkarzla, the ambassador had intensive discussions with members of our regional Steering Committee. The Sunni mufti was there, as well as the Alawite sheikh, a Maronite monsignor and several other Syrian and Lebanese local leaders and mayors. At the side-line, some important talks took place between Sunni and Alawite delegates about the assassination of an Alawite leader one week earlier in his Akkar village by armed gun-men. The Sunni authorities agreed to issue a statement condemning the act.
R&R Syria’s mandate is to unite all communities in areas suffering from the Syrian crisis around a common cause: the future of the youth. We are thus combining conflict transformation with humanitarian aid, submitting ourselves to the consensus of moral authorities of local civil society. R&R Syria’s Chairman Friedrich Bokern stressed the fact that very few ambassadors and dignitaries are coming to Akkar to recognise the many efforts on the ground. R&R Syria’s work shows that trust and understanding can be built through a sustainable presence.