The Plight of the Rightless: Mapping and Understanding Statelessness in Tripoli-V1.3 Figure 2-Deprivation in Tripoli This index also provides insights on the social demographics in Tripoli. It shows that 25% of households have very weak access to education, with an illiteracy rate of 11% compared to the national average of 7%. As for housing, 35% of households in Tripoli live in deprived housing conditions characterised by the lack of proper heating or cooling, prolonged or constant power and water shortages, contaminated domestic and drinking water, and high ratio of family size to number of rooms. Furthermore, another 35% suffer from insufficient healthcare such as lack of health insurance coverage, infrequent doctor visits of sick members and child delivery at home. Nehmeh also adds that 77% of Tripoli’s households suffer from economic deprivation, defined as one’s weak access to employment opportunities, low asset ownership and instability of the source of income. The Impact of the Syrian Crisis One out of every 5 residents in Tripoli is a refugee today. While the Tripoli population is growing at an annual rate of 2.45%,3 increased strains have been exerted on its capacity to provide public services and proper infrastructure to its residents such as garbage collection, power and water supply, and proper roads, in addition to increased traffic and road accidents due to overcrowding.4 This has been further amplified by the increased numbers of refugees residing in Tripoli. The implications of the Syrian crisis are not confined to weaker public service provision only, but extend to the labour market and social perception of host communities. It is commonly believed that Syrian workers have been accepting lower wages due to their high economic vulnerability. 5 The perception of competition for local jobs is high in most neighbourhoods of Tripoli. 3 UN-Habitat Lebanon, Tripoli City Profile 2016, p.3. Calculation based on figure 2. Khaled Ismail et al., Syrian refugees in Tripoli, Lebanon (Massachusetts: Tufts University, 2017). 5 Ismail et al., Syrian refugees in Tripoli, Lebanon (2017). 4 14