Refugee Review Tribunal AUSTRALIA RRT RESEARCH RESPONSE Research Response Number: LBN17810 Country: Lebanon Date: 7 March 2006 Keywords: Lebanon – Syria – Citizenship – Alawis – Christians This response was prepared by the Country Research Section of the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the RRT within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Questions 1. Would a Syrian national by birth lose Syrian citizenship upon becoming a naturalised Lebanese citizen? 2. Is there any evidence of discrimination by the Lebanese authorities (in particular, local Tripoli authorities) against Alawis or Christians in favour of Sunni Muslims? 3. Is there any evidence of discrimination by the Lebanese authorities (in particular, local Tripoli authorities) against Christians in favour of Sunni Muslims? RESPONSE 1. Would a Syrian national by birth lose Syrian citizenship upon becoming a naturalised Lebanese citizen? A Syrian national by birth would not lose Syrian citizenship upon becoming a naturalised Lebanese citizen. According to the US Office of Personnel Management, Syria recognises dual citizenship (United States Office of Personnel Management 2001, Citizenship Laws of the World, March, p.192 – Attachment 1). According to an official at the Embassy of the Syrian Arab Republic in Washington DC, Syria allows dual citizenship with Lebanon (Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada 1997, SYR26988.E – Syria: Information on whether Syria permits dual citizenship with Lebanon, 3 June http://www.irb.gc.ca/cgi-bin/foliocgi.exe/refinfo_e – Accessed 15 February 2006 – Attachment 2). Syria’s Legislative Decree No 276 is included as Attachment 3. It provides further information on Syrian citizenship (Legislative Decree No 276 and its Amendments No 17 of 13 February 1972, translated by Ibrahim H Hourany for the Canadian Department of External Affairs – Attachment 3). 2. Is there any evidence of discrimination by the Lebanese authorities (in particular, local Tripoli authorities) against Alawis in favour of Sunni Muslims? The US Department of State’s International Religious Freedom Report 2005 provides the following useful background information on religion in Lebanon: • The Constitution provides for freedom of religion; • There is no state religion; • New Year, Armenian Christmas, Eid al-Adha, St Maroun Day, the Muslim New Year, Ashura, Good Friday, Eastern and Western Easter, the birth of the Prophet, All Saints’ Day, Feast of the Assumption, Eid al-Fitr and Christmas are national holidays; • The President is a Maronite Christian, the Prime Minister is a Sunni Muslim and the Speaker of Parliament is a Shi’a Muslim; • Christians and Muslims are represented equally in Parliament, the Cabinet and first category civil service positions; • Seats in Parliament and the Cabinet and civil service posts are distributed proportionally among the 18 recognised religious groups; • Lebanon’s “confessionally-based political system merges various political and religious interests, with occasional consequences that can be interpreted as either political or religious discrimination”; • The relationship between religions in Lebanon is “generally amicable…however, there were periodic reports of friction between religious groups, which may be attributed to political or religious differences, and citizens still struggled with the legacy of a 15-year civil war fought largely along religious lines” (US Department of State 2005, International Religious Freedom Report 2005 – Lebanon, 8 November – Attachment 4). No evidence of discrimination, by the Lebanese authorities against Alawis (also known as Alawites) in favour of Sunni Muslims, was found amongst the sources consulted. According to the US Department of State’s International Religious Freedom Report 2005, Alawites are one of the 18 recognised religious groups in Lebanon (US Department of State 2005, International Religious Freedom Report 2005 – Lebanon, 8 November – Attachment 4). According to Barry Rubin, director of the Global Research in International Affairs Centre and editor of The Middle East Review of International Affairs, the Alawites are allocated two of the 128 seats in Parliament (Rubin, Barry 2006, ‘Getting to Arab Democracy: Dealing with Communalism’, Journal of Democracy, January, The Global Research in International Affairs Centre website, footnote 7 http://gloria.idc.ac.il/columns/2006/rubin/journal%20of%20democracy.html – Accessed 7 March 2006 – Attachment 5). According to the European Union Election Observation Mission, in the 2005 parliamentary election the successful Alawites were Mustapha Ali Hussein in North I Akkar and Badr Wanous in North II Tripoli. Mustapha and Badr are both part of the Hariri Parliamentary Bloc led by Saadeddine Hariri, a Sunni by confession: Constit. Name Confession Current List Political Votes Parliamentary Affiliation Bloc North I Mustapha Alawite National Future 87 966 Hariri’s Bloc Akkar Ali Union – 14th Movement Hussein March North II Badr Alawite Reconciliation Independent 89688 Independent/ Tripoli Wanous and Reform Hariri (European Union Election Observation Mission 2005, Parliamentary Elections Lebanon 2005 Final Report, European Union website, Annex 1, pp.63-64 http://europa.eu.int/comm/external_relations/human_rights/eu_election_ass_observ/lebanon/f inal_report.pdf – Accessed 7 March 2006 – Attachment 6). An article dated 20 June 2005 by BBC News reports that the anti-Syrian opposition Hariri Bloc won 72 of the 128 seats in Parliament. The article notes that Saad Hariri is the son of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri who was killed in a car bomb in February 2005 (‘Lebanon opposition wins assembly’ 2005, BBC News, 20 June http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4112946.stm – Accessed 7 March 2006 – Attachment 7). No further information on the treatment of Alawites in Lebanon was found amongst the sources consulted. 3. Is there any evidence of discrimination by the Lebanese authorities (in particular, local Tripoli authorities) against Christians in favour of Sunni Muslims? No evidence of discrimination, by the Lebanese authorities against Christians in favour of Sunni Muslims, was found amongst the sources consulted. For information on religion in Lebanon please refer to Question 2. According to Barry Rubin, director of the Global Research in International Affairs Centre and editor of The Middle East Review of International Affairs, Christians are allocated 64 of the 128 seats in Parliament: 34 Maronite Christian, 14 Greek Orthodox, 8 Greek Catholic, 5 Armenian Orthodox, 1 Armenian Catholic, 1 Protestant and 1 Other Christian (Rubin, Barry 2006, ‘Getting to Arab Democracy: Dealing with Communalism’, Journal of Democracy, January, The Global Research in International Affairs Centre website, footnote 7 http://gloria.idc.ac.il/columns/2006/rubin/journal%20of%20democracy.html – Accessed 7 March 2006 – Attachment 5). The following reports and articles provide information on recent incidents involving Christians and Christian areas in Lebanon. Please note that while there have been attacks on Christians and Christian areas in Lebanon, it is not clear whether the motive/s behind the attack/s is political and/or religious: • An article dated 15 February 2006 in The Christian Science Monitor reports that Christians, Sunni Muslims and Druze participated in a rally marking the anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The article notes that other than formal delegations, Lebanon’s Shiites were absent (Blanford, Nicholas 2006, ‘Lebanon remembers Hariri’, Christian Science Monitor, 15 February http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0215/p06s02-wome.html – Accessed 2 March 2006 – Attachment 8); • An article dated 13 February 2006 by Compass reports that a Maronite church and the headquarters of the Greek Orthodox archbishop were vandalised during the 5 February 2006 anti-cartoon protests in Beirut. The article quotes Maronite Archbishop Paul Youssef Matar as saying that the Lebanese government’s lack of protection for Christians was “unacceptable” (‘Solidarity Shown at Priest’s Memorial Service in Turkey – Other Christians in Muslim countries targeted with anti-cartoon anger’ 2006, Compass, 13 February, International Christian Concern website http://www.christianresponse.org/articles/279/solidarity-shown-at-priests-memorial- service-in-turkey – Accessed 2 March 2006 – Attachment 9); • An article dated 6 February 2006 in Worthy News reports that during anti-cartoon protests in Beirut, stones were thrown at a Maronite church and protestors attacked properties in the Christian area of Ashrafiyeh. The article also notes that the “attacks came as Lebanon’s Christians were already on edge amid reports that the name of Lebanon’s Christian Maronite Patriarch, Butros Nasrallah Sfeir appeared on a hit-list uncovered by a United Nations commission probing the assassination of forme Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri” (Bos, Stefan J. 2006, ‘Lebanon Christians Attacked, Church Stoned, By Angry Muslims’, Worthy News, source: BosNewsLife, 6 February http://www.worthynews.com/news/worthynews-com-christian-lebanon-christians- attacked-church-stoned-by-angry-muslims-/ – Accessed 3 March 2006 – Attachment 10); • An article dated 13 December 2005 by BBC News reports that since the murder of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005, “at least 14 blasts explosions have been carried out against Christian