Report

Alternative protection in Jordan and Lebanon: the role of legal aid

Published 07. Sep 2021
Jordan Lebanon Asylum policy Information, counselling and legal assistance (ICLA) Protection Law and policy
In the absence of a codified refugee rights framework in Jordan and Lebanon, legal actors must be creative in the development of strategies and approaches to ensure the protection of refugee rights in practice.

Jordan and Lebanon share common challenges in relation to refugee protection but are poles apart in practice. Neither has signed the 1951 Refugee Convention. Both host a disproportionate number of refugees. Both share the collective trauma of largescale protracted refugee displacement, namely the influx of Palestinian refugees from 1948 onwards and of Syrian refugees since 2011. While protection gaps exist for refugees in both contexts, the chasm is considerably wider in Lebanon.

However, legal aid actors, courts and national and local institutions can all play a constructive role.