35 ATTRACTING ECONOMIC MIGRANTS Beirut attracted a large number of rural migrants who steadily came in waves inflating its suburbs. The most deprived settled in slums that formed a belt of poverty around the capital city. Such areas witnessed later the arrival of other international migrant groups. These areas are hotspots for stateless people. Most of the rural migrants settled in low-income neighborhoods or slums that developed near industrial zones like Burj Hammoud, Nabaa and Choueifat. Others flourished around quarries like Biaqout and Roueissat1. Migrants often chose to live with their family or clan members, from the same region of origin. These settlements took over their residents’ regional identities. In this respect, Hay el Selloum, Ouzai, Roueissat or Biaqout saw the influx of mainly Shia villagers from the Beqaa and the South, usually from the same clan (Zeaiter for Zeaitriyeh for instance). Many Shia stateless adults and children were found in these areas. Other neighborhoods like Nabaa are religiously mixed areas. Statelessness cases are spread all across these different areas. Box 6. Hay el Tanak – Wata Msaytbeh Spreading from the Cola bridge towards Mar Elias refugee camp, this slum is the only one to be found within the administrative boundaries of Beirut city. In addition to other profiles, Hay el Tanak was traditionally the hotspot of Druze migrants from the mountains1. Interestingly, the team identified one of the few Druze stateless cases there. 5 6 4 1 8 2 Box 7. New waves, new unions 3 Similarly to internal migration, Beirut attracted since the 1990s international economic migrants from Asian and African countries. This mainly female population tend to settle in lowincome neighborhoods, essentially Burj Hammoud and Nabaa. Unions between these women and Lebanese men resulted in new cases of stateless children2. 1. Mona Fawaz, Isabelle Peillen (2003). The case of Beirut, Lebanon. Understanding slums: Case Studies for the Global Report on Human Settlements 2003. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. UN-HABITAT. 2. Cf. Section 9 of this report. 7 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Roueissat-Biaqout Jnah Ouzai Hay el Tanak Burj Hammoud Nabaa Hay el Selloum Zeaitriyeh © 2023 Siren Associates. All Rights Reserved.