refugees from Iraq in Lebanon:
Officials in the Lebanese Ministry of Internal Affairs' General Security branch dealing with non-Palestinian migrants say that although technically they can hold illegal migrants for up to three years, they are more lenient with Iraqis. "Once their period of detention hits a month, we give them the option to be voluntarily repatriated. Otherwise they remain in detention," said Pierre Ephrem, an official at the Beirut General Security headquarters.
(..) Like Syria and Jordan, Lebanon is not party to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention. All three countries have strained relations with their Iraqi migrant communities because of this. "We cannot sustain the influx of Iraqis. We have to work within the margins of our laws, and we have enough problems as it is," said Ephrem. "In any case, the occupation of Iraq was not of our making, but of America's," he added. "The West is not only better equipped to deal with the refugees; it is their responsibility."
(...)Iraqis are estimated to be leaving their country at a staggering rate of 50,000 a month.
(...) Regulations of the US-backed Iraqi regime stipulate that Iraqis whose passports have expired can only have them renewed in Baghdad.
(...) . "We want to move to Europe, where we can find stability," said Maryam. "Here we are nobody. There is enough poverty and unemployment in Lebanon as it is. Public sector services cannot deal with the Lebanese. Our brothers here have been good to us, and we thank them, but we cannot settle here forever."