LEBANON AND WADI KHALED: A LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP Wadi Khaled is composed of Bedouin who are located at Lebanon’s geographic and social margins. Sometimes considered a buffer zone along the Syrian-Lebanese borders, the area continues to suffer from statelessness. • State negligence and porous borders pushed many of Wadi Khaled’s inhabitants to turn to smuggling to survive. Smuggling became predominant during the civil war (1975-1990) and was tolerated during the Syrian tutelage period. • Under these circumstances, according to mukhtars and KIs, the Bedouin of Wadi Khaled were not compelled to address their citizenship status. This changed after Syrian troops left Lebanon in 2005, which resulted in more tightly controlled borders as relations between the two countries worsened. • As the ongoing conflict in Syria cut off the traditional outreach of Wadi Khaled toward Syria, local communities lost their access to a critical coping mechanism. Thus, they were forced to address their status to receive basic services. • At the same time, since Wadi Khaled started hosting high numbers of Syrian refugees, the Bedouin faced additional ordeals, whether surviving through the tight job market or struggling to access scarce resources. • Wadi Khaled’s local mukhtars and figures have, however, become more organized and proactive, regularly updating stateless lists and cases as they openly advocate for their cause in the public scene. “ “ Source: Miettunen P., Shunnaq M. (2020) Tribal networks and informal adaptive mechanisms of Syrian refugees: the case of the Bani Khalid tribe in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs, AUB. In the past, when I used to have visitors, I always made sure to take them to Homs and Syria. Beirut was not within our reach! - Mukhtar from Wadi Khaled, March 20. [In Wadi Khaled], many public services have been missing. Interestingly, some residents claimed, that before the war in Syria, they did not even miss or need these services. - Miettunen & Shunnaq (2020) © 2021 Siren Associates. All Rights Reserved.