Europe is not prepared for the looming Lebanese refugee crisis

While Germany has shown that taking in huge numbers of refugees can have significant economic benefits, the EU's current political landscape, with surging support for anti-immigration parties, presents very difficult obstacles to making this happen

Displaced children in central Beirut. According to the Lebanese Government, more than 1.2 million people were displaced by Israeli airstrikes on the country. Picture: Nael Chahine / Middle East Images /AFP via Getty Images

Since it began at the end of September, Israel’s invasion of Lebanon has heaped more misery onto a Middle East already overwhelmed by humanitarian catastrophe. Within Lebanon, as of October 23, 2024, more than 1.2 million people have fled their homes, and tens of thousands are now trying to flee abroad.

From the European Union's point of view, limited legal migration pathways, together with the presence of already increased migratory pressures, may well create a repeat of the 2015 refugee crisis.