UNHCR – Detention

Protecting and Supporting Detainees in Lebanon Project Overview: Our project is dedicated to providing protection and support to refugees, asylum-seekers, stateless individuals, and members of the host community (including Syrians, non-Syrians, Lebanese, and Palestinians) detained in Mount Lebanon, South Lebanon, and Bekaa, Lebanon. Our mission is to improve detention conditions and ensure that all individuals have access to justice and essential services, fostering a safer and more humane environment for those held in detention facilities. Key Activities: • Detention Monitoring: We conduct regular visits and follow-up calls to detention facilities, assessing detainees’ needs, monitoring conditions and treatment, and reporting any violations or mistreatment. Our focus is on ensuring that all detainees are treated with dignity and respect. • Assistance to Children in Detention Facilities: Collaborating with other organizations, we identify and intervene in cases involving children in detention. Our efforts include providing legal aid, promoting alternatives to detention, and conducting individual assessments and follow-up for each child to ensure their well-being. • Legal Aid: We offer comprehensive legal services to detainees, including advice, administrative support, fine and bail payments, and representation. We prioritize vulnerable individuals, such as those with immigration-related offenses, LGBTI individuals, and victims of trafficking, ensuring they receive the support they need. • Access to Health Services: Addressing both physical and mental health needs, we deliver individual and group interventions, provide medical and psychiatric assistance when necessary, and conduct awareness sessions on hygiene and health. Our team also ensures that detainees are referred to appropriate post-detention follow-up care. • Support to Persons with Specific Needs: We prioritize assistance for detainees with specific needs, conducting individual assessments, making referrals to medical and mental health services, and providing counseling sessions to support their unique challenges. • Distribution of Food and In-Kind Assistance: We assess detainees’ needs and distribute essential relief items, including PPE, cleaning kits, hygiene kits, food kits, clothes, mattresses, blankets, phone cards, and stationary kits, to improve their living conditions. Impact: • Number of Beneficiaries: This year, we have supported 2,800 detainees across various detention facilities in Lebanon. • Success Stories: 1. Improvement in Juvenile Detention Conditions: In partnership with UNHCR, we successfully advocated for the closure of the Rihan-Juvenile Detention Center in Jezzine, which was ill-equipped and located far from Sidon City. A new center, Sidon Traffic Detention Center, was opened in Sidon City, offering better humanitarian conditions and easier access for families and the courthouse, significantly improving the juveniles’ psychological well-being and access to justice. 2. Reuniting a Missing Refugee Juvenile: In collaboration with ISF authorities, UNHCR’s legal unit, and UPEL, we played a crucial role in locating and legally representing a missing refugee juvenile involved in the TikTok criminal network. Through our persistent efforts, the child was safely reunited with his family. Additionally, Judge Jouel Abil Haydar has assigned our association to monitor the psychological situation of all minor detainees involved in this case.