For weeks, refugee Maryam Janhat has been living in fear of deportation as Lebanon cracks down on Syrians, with politicians ramping up calls for them to be forced home. Refugees from Lebanon's war-torn neighbor face a dilemma: should they stay and contend with stricter measures and growing anti-Syrian sentiment, or should they return home and risk poverty and repression? Standing at her husband's vegetable stall by the side of the road outside the village of Minyara in Lebanon's impoverished north, Janhat, 38, said she lives in a state of constant worry, reported AFP. "I am scared when (my husband and children) come to work at the stall.
I am afraid they could take my son at any moment...
we are afraid to walk the streets," she said. Syrians make up about half of Minyara's 8,000 residents, the municipality says, with most living in tent camps adjacent to vast agricultural fields. Janhat, who took refuge in the village a decade ago after fleeing violence in the central Syrian province of Homs, feels lucky to be living in a house rather than a flimsy tent.
But she and her family have been unable to renew their residency in Lebanon, and they fear being deported to Syria where she says they have "no house, no work, and no security". A few steps away, 70-year-old Ibrahim Mansour is offloading crates of fruit and vegetables from his van to sell. Syrians "have stalls everywhere, competing with us in every sector", he said.
"When they leave, the situation will improve a lot." 'Open t.
