As the Israeli army continues to displaced residents of Lebanon amid ongoing threats and deadly attacks, a recent study published by the Beirut-based Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies found that around 85% of displaced people in Lebanon are living outside the current official shelter system.
The findings are based on focus group discussions with displaced people as well as experts in humanitarian work and public policy.
The Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies in Beirut pointed to a phenomenon it termed "the privatisation of displacement", explaining that forcibly displaced families have come to bear the burden of securing their own housing, livelihoods, and safety, as public institutions and humanitarian groups fail to provide them with this
In a previous study published in April, the centre found that more than one million forcibly displaced people in Lebanon were living outside official shelters during the Israeli war , stressing that their humanitarian and living conditions were extremely harsh.
It said that there was a "silent" humanitarian disaster affecting the displaced people, as they struggled beyond the "radar" of international organisations and official bodies.
In a report entitled "The Privatisation of Displacement: How the Burden of Managing the Humanitarian Crisis Shifted from Institutions to Displaced Families in Lebanon", the centre explained how "the latest wave of displacement in Lebanon reveals a profound transformation in humanitarian crises and how they are managed".
It noted that while traditional responses continue to revolve around collective shelters and emergency aid, most displaced people today live outside these centres, relying on rented accommodation, staying with relatives, or depending on social support networks.
The centre stressed in its study that "displacement in Lebanon is no longer merely a temporary humanitarian condition but has become a prolonged urban condition increasingly managed through market mechanisms and opportunities for self-provision rather than through official institutions and traditional protection systems in humanitarian crises".
Thus, "housing emerges as the primary entry point for understanding the current displacement", as "the rental market has become the space through which the crisis is reshaped and its burdens redistributed, with significant increases in rents, cases of discrimination in access to housing, overcrowding within homes, and growing disparities in the ability to obtain adequate shelter".
It added that "housing is no longer simply a humanitarian need but has become the main mechanism through which the cost and management of displacement are transferred to individuals and families themselves".
In addition, the Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies in Beirut pointed in its latest study to "mounting economic pressures", explaining that many displaced people "have lost sources of income linked to their areas of origin, at a time when the cost of living has risen in areas of displacement".
Families have consequently depleted their savings, taken on debt, reduced consumption, and relied on family and social support networks.
The centre warned that "although these strategies allow survival in the short term, they weaken prospects for recovery and stability in the medium and long term".
The centre found that "the experience of displacement is not measured solely by the availability of material assistance but has become closely linked to issues of human dignity and social relations".
It added that "despite displays of solidarity by host communities, many displaced people have faced forms of stigma, discrimination, and feelings of being unwelcome, making the preservation of dignity and privacy an essential part of the daily struggle for survival".
The centre examined "the growing gap between the reality of urban displacement and the response models in place; while support is largely concentrated around collective shelters, the majority of displaced people live outside them".
It explained that "this imbalance leads to weak access to assistance and reinforces what can be described as the privatisation of displacement management", as "displaced families themselves become the primary actors managing the crisis and bearing its costs".
The study concluded with "the need to move from an emergency humanitarian approach centred on collective shelters to an integrated urban approach linking immediate relief with housing policies, social protection, livelihood support, local development, and the strengthening of social cohesion".
It also pointed to "the importance of empowering municipalities and local administrations as the first responders on the ground".
The centre stressed that "without this shift, displacement will remain a crisis managed through the market and social relations, while displaced families bear the largest share of its burdens and costs".
Article translated from Arabic by Afrah Almatwari. To read the original, click here .