On the margins of refuge: Queer Syrian refugees and the politics of belonging and mobility in post-2019 Lebanon
| Published date | 01 September 2024 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/13582291241263802 |
| Author | Jasmin Lilian Diab,Bechara Samneh |
| Date | 01 September 2024 |
Article
International Journal of
Discrimination and the Law
2024, Vol. 24(3) 169–193
© The Author(s) 2024
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DOI: 10.1177/13582291241263802
journals.sagepub.com/home/jdi
On the margins of refuge:
Queer Syrian refugees and the
politics of belonging and
mobility in post-2019 Lebanon
Jasmin Lilian Diaband Bechara Samneh
Abstract
This paper explores the dual marginalization of LGBTIQ+ Syrian refugees in Lebanon,
highlighting the interplay between national policies on deportation and the crackdown on
the LGBTIQ+ community post-2019. Lebanon, home to 1.5 million Syrian refugees—the
highest per capita globally—is a case study in how social, political, economic, and legal
frameworks do not merely overlook refugee challenges but actively intensify their
isolation. Particularly for LGBTIQ+ Syrian refugees, everyday experiences of violence,
discrimination, stigmatization, and isolation are exacerbated by these frameworks. In
2022, this situation worsened when Lebanon’s Minister of Interior, yielding to pressure
from religious groups, directed security forces to disrupt gatherings within the LGBTIQ+
community. Employing qualitative research methods, this study delves into the com-
pounded effects of these policies on the intersectional vulnerabilities of queer Syrian
refugees. It examines their perceptions of vulnerability and security, underlining the
profound impacts of overlapping decisions on deportation and the suppression of
LGBTIQ+ rights.
Keywords
Refugees, LGBTIQ+, gender, inclusion, mobility, legal decisions, intersectionality
Institute for Migration Studies, School of Arts and Sciences, Lebanese American University, Beirut, Lebanon
Corresponding author:
Jasmin Lilian Diab, Institute for Migration Studies, School of Arts and Sciences, Lebanese American University,
P.O. Box 13-5053, Chouran Beirut 1102 2801, Lebanon.
Email: jasminlilian.diab@lau.edu.lb
Introduction
The inescapable and ongoing political and economic collapse of Lebanon since
2019 intersected with a number of concerns and nuanced understandings around vul-
nerability, protection, mobility, and freedom of expression (Bisat et al., 2021). The
country’s intersectional and layered crisis indeed impacted Lebanon’s population as a
whole; it has however, inevitably carried dire compounded negative impacts for some of
the country’s most vulnerable and marginalized groups (Fouad et al., 2020). Political
scapegoatism, coupled with an overall normalization of Lebanon’s downfall, has led the
country’s leadership to divert citizens’rage and attention away from its seemingly un-
accountable government and public institutions, to its latest targets: Syrian refugees and
gender minorities (Human Rights Watch, 2022). Across the last decade, more than
1.5 million Syrian refugees have fled to Lebanon seeking protection, safety and shelter.
Alongside other refugee groups Lebanon hosted already, this continues to make it the
country with the highest number of refugees per capita in the world (UK Gov, 2023). The
country’s social, political, economic and legal landscapes cast a blind eye upon refugees’
nuanced challenges –particularly those from the LGBTIQ + community (Medina, 2023).
LGBTIQ + refugees in Lebanon continue to endure extreme forms of violence, dis-
crimination, stigmatization, and isolation in the safe places they seek (Diab et al., 2024).
On 24 June, 2022, Lebanon’s Caretaker Interior Minister issued what he deemed as an
“urgent directive”to the Internal Security and General Security directorates across
Lebanon, instructing them to prevent any gatherings that were perceived as “promoting
sexual perversion”(MENA Rights Group, 2023). The directive provided vague and
overtly broad criteria without citing any legal basis to determine that such gatherings were
in violation of “customs and traditions”and “religious principles”(MENA Rights Group,
2023). The Caretaker Minister justified this decision by insisting that it came in response
to requests from who he referred to as “religious authorities”across the country (Hourani,
2022). Subsequently, Lebanon witnessed a surge in anti-LGBTIQ + hate speech on social
media, with individuals and some religious groups inciting violence, making death
threats, and calling for the forceful suppression of scheduled LGBTIQ + events (Haddad,
2023). Several members of parliament and local politicians also made statements tar-
geting homosexuality (Ibid).
These disruptions contradicted Lebanese legal precedent regarding same-sex conduct and
violated international human rights principles (Human Rights Watch, 2018). In July 2018, a
Lebanese appeals court issued a landmark ruling that declared same-sex conduct as not
unlawful, thereby dismissing charges brought against individuals under article 534 of the
penal code, which criminalizes “any sexual intercourse contrary to the order of nature”(Reid,
2017). The judges criticized this law for intruding into people’s private lives and declared that
homosexuality was not “unnatural”(Ibid). This ruling followed four previous judgments from
lower courts, dating back to 2009, which had refused to convict gay and transgender in-
dividuals under article 534 (Ibid). According to a report by Human Rights Watch, this ban
contravenes the constitutional rights of LGBTIQ + individuals, which include equality,
freedom of expression, and the right to assemble freely (Ibid). Furthermore, it runs counte r to
Lebanon’s international legal obligations –particularly,its obligati onsunder the International
170 International Journal of Discrimination and the Law 24(3)
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