MASNAA, Lebanon – For the first time Monday, Syrians were required to obtain visas to enter neighboring Lebanon, an effort to stem the flow of refugees from the war-torn country, which caused confusion and upset at this popular crossing.
During nearly four years of fighting, more than 3 million Syrians have fled, mostly across the border to Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey.
The Lebanese government estimates that there are about 1.5 million Syrians living in the country with a population of about 4 million. About 1.1 million Syrians have registered with the United Nations refugee agency there.
“This number is enough, and Lebanon has no ability to receive more refugees,” Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk said at a news briefing Monday in Beirut.
In October, Lebanese border officials began limiting the number of Syrians allowed into the country, cutting in half the number seeking to register with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
As of midnight Monday, Syrians wishing to cross had to either find Lebanese citizens to sponsor them or apply for temporary visas. For those seeking tourist visas, for example, that means being able to show that they have at least $1,000 and valid hotel reservations.
Staff on the Lebanese side of the crossing, about 40 miles east of the capital, Beirut, were still trying to iron out some issues Monday, including whether those coming in as tourists can stay with family or in rented apartments instead of at hotels. But they said they were prepared to handle the new paperwork and screening.
Syrian media had broadcast the new requirements ahead of time, leading those without visas to stay home, they said. Crowds remained manageable.
But those who crossed Monday described a different scene on the Syrian side: long lines, staff confusion and daylong waits. Many people were apparently turned away, in some cases even when they had the required visas and supporting documents.
“There are a lot of Syrians on the other side who they are not letting in, a lot of families waiting,” said Reed Shaban, 36, of Beirut, after walking through the crossing. Syria does not require Lebanese citizens to obtain visas.
Shaban said Syrian border officials set up a new checkpoint and started stopping people before they reached the main crossing to ease the crowds.
Toufic Manzeh, 36, a commodities trader who was traveling with her, said he supports the new requirements because Lebanon’s economy cannot support so many refugees. In his village of 4,000 families, he said, there are 500 Syrian families.
“Rebuilding Syria will take ages. What are we going to do with those people?” he asked.
He complained that the refugees are snapping up entry-level jobs and flooding the tourist neighborhoods of Beirut with cheap labor.
“Now if you go to Hamra, you can’t find a waiter who is Lebanese. Even my dentist changed his secretary to a Syrian,” Manzeh said. “It’s too much for Lebanon.”
Still, he said he sympathized with those turned away, including two Syrian women that he saw trying to join their sons in Lebanon after attending a funeral in Syria. They didn’t have the necessary visas or documentation because they thought the new rules came into effect on Tuesday.
Mohammed Share, 50, an unemployed Syrian construction worker, was waiting in a gray sedan with two young children for a sick relative to be allowed to cross into Lebanon.
He said that his sister-in-law had brought proof that she was due to be treated for a heart condition at the American University of Beirut Medical Center. And he said that he had found a Lebanese friend from the town where he lives to sponsor her. Still, they had been waiting all morning.
“They should look at this from a humanitarian point of view,” Share said.
