Security that protects: Informing policy on local security provision in Lebanese communities hosting Syrian refugees

This policy brief, and the accompanying report, aim to inform policy formulation on local-level security provision and refugee protection in Lebanon, and to propose methods to upgrade the systems of the security institutions in a way that strengthens protection of the Lebanese communities and the Syrian refugees they host.

This brief is based on field research conducted between February and May 2016 in three locations across Lebanon. It analyses the challenges to protecting local communities and refugees in a hybrid system where formal and informal security providers coexist and implement a mix of security measures. It argues that the current securitisation approach, which relies on negative deterrence, enhances perceptions of insecurity among the Lebanese and infringes on the rights and dignity of the refugees.

The policy brief is produced by International Alert and Lebanon Support as part of a project supported by the Netherland Organisation for Scientific Research WOTRO.