Feature: Tension rises between Syrian displaced camps, Lebanese surroundings

BEIRUT (Xinhua) - Many Syrian refugee camps and groupings in Lebanon have been targeted by the Lebanese army security raids and heavy measures since fierce clashes erupted in the border town of Arsal in the eastern Bekaa region in early August.

A security source told Xinhua that measures have been taken to enforce order inside these camps and gatherings to thwart any possible attempt by terrorists belonging to the Islamic State (IS) or the "al-Nusra Front" to destabilize the security situation.

Earlier on Aug. 2, the Lebanese army engaged in a fierce battle with Syrian Islamist militants belonging to the IS and al-Nusra Front in Arsal, during which at least 18 soldiers were killed, 86 others wounded, and 39 soldiers and internal security troops kidnapped.

"What happened in Arsal can happen in any other town in Lebanon, which has prompted the army to take precautionary measures," the source said, adding that the army has been raiding Syrian displaced camps and gatherings in search of suspected elements and weapons.

Abou Ahmad Al Azzi, mayor of an eastern Bekaa town, told Xinhua that the "welcoming attitude towards the Syrians has turned into caution and enforcing measures that limit their movements ... these measures prompted many problems between the locals and the displaced."

Meantime, Hassan Al Arabi, a municipal council member in a northern Bekaa town, said that residents in all the towns on the eastern borders with Syria are "patrolling their villages at night and taking self-security measures."

"The civilian guard groups carry automatic rifles and hunting guns and watch the entrances of the villages and the plains," said Abou Jomaa, a military cadre in one of the Bekaa towns' political parties. He added that most of the border towns have been directed by the Lebanese authorities "to raise the number of municipal guards, provided them with light weapons, charged them with night patrols and checking the IDs of all the displaced, whose movements were limited after 21:00."

Hassan Eid, mayor of a northern Bekaa town, told Xinhua that " the displaced have turned into some king of timed bombs that would explode anytime in our towns and villages." He pledged that "we will work on dismantling the displaced camps in our villages so they would return to their homeland, as there are vast areas in Syria that are safe now and can accommodate them."

But most of the displaced Syrians in Lebanon denied the terrorism accusations. Farida Al Okaibi from Syria's Aleppo said that "most of the displaced are far from being a security threat." "The main concern of most of the displaced is to secure their daily food, medicine, oils and not engage in murderous plans or sabotage," said the girl who lives with her family in the Al Rofeid camp in western Bekaa.

But she also acknowledged that "there are some displaced involved with terrorist organizations, but this does not apply on all the displaced." She revealed that the camp where she lives " was the subject of three security raids this week by the Lebanese army, and no one was arrested and no weapons were found."

It's estimated that some 15 percent of the displaced Syrians in Lebanon now live in randomly erected camps, and in harsh conditions.

Though the latest report by the UN refugee agency puts the population of its registered Syrian refugees at more than 1.2 million, Lebanese Minister of Social Affairs Rachid Derbas has claimed that the real number be more than 1.5 million.