Over 21,000 Syrians from the country's Alawite-majority coastal regions arrived in Lebanon during the month of March, with many of them fleeing sectarian attacks carried out by rogue elements of Syria's security forces and allied Islamist forces, according to the UN Refugee Agency.
The Disaster and Crisis Management Room in Lebanon’s Akkar Governorate said that 12,798 Syrians arrived in northern Lebanon during the same month, spreading across 23 towns.
For several weeks, cities and towns along the Syrian coast have witnessed a marked increase in migration to Lebanon or Iraq, particularly following the sectarian violence that occurred in the area last March, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of civilians.
Though the shocking sectarian violence is one of the major factors for the migration, there are several other economic motivations behind people leaving.
Durgham Ayyoub a migrant from Baniyas, who arrived in Lebanon a few days ago after a journey that lasted several hours, told The New Arab's Arabic sister outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed:
"One of the main reasons for my migration is the absence of hope and the deteriorating security and economic conditions. I used to work for the Military Housing Institution, which was dissolved, leaving me unemployed after the regime fell. With the soaring cost of living and no job opportunities, I was forced to migrate. Lebanon will be a stopover while I try to save enough money over the coming months to reach Europe."
As the new Syrian government attempts to rid the army and security forces of members of the fallen regime of dictator Bashar al-Assad, thousands of mostly Alawite government employees have been dismissed.
Most residents of Syria’s coastal region, the majority of whom are Alawites, relied on these government jobs as their main source of income. A
large number had also volunteered in the army or in security agencies tied to the former regime before they were dissolved. The recent sectarian massacres, accompanied by widespread looting and theft, have impacted the majority of locals, many of whom lost parts of their property.
Ali Rahiya, a man in his twenties from the city of Jableh, completed his paperwork and passport formalities a few days ago, preparing to migrate to Iraq after receiving promises from friends to help him find work in Baghdad.
"The daily cost of living has become extremely burdensome, and there is no hope for young people to build a future amid the lack of job opportunities, low wages, and soaring prices, not to mention the deteriorating public services, frequent electricity cuts, and fuel shortages," he told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.
"I recently graduated from the civil engineering department at Latakia University, but I plan to work at a local restaurant in Baghdad, hoping that conditions in the Syrian coastal areas will eventually improve so I can return to Jableh," he added.
One of the main impediments the new Syrian government is facing in improving the economic situation of the country or bringing back public services is the continued US sanctions placed on the country, despite the fall of the Assad regime.
The new government has also not yet been able to establish a professional army or security forces. It has instead relied on poorly trained often sectarian-minded militias, with some reacting to pro-Assad uprisings in the coastal areas by carrying out sectarian revenge killings against civilians.
According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, over 800 Alawites were killed during the attacks in March.
The Syrian government has launched an investigation into the events that seek to bring justice to the perpetrators, but sectarian violence against Alawites continues.
Syria's previous ruling Assad family were from the Alawite sect, as were many of the Assad regime's top military, intelligence, and political officials.