The Lebanese government is thinking of no longer issuing visas to visitors with Arab nationalities at the airport. Is that a sensible idea?
The Lebanese security forces have been unearthing many would-be terrorists with sinister plans to blow up the country. What they all have in common is an Arab passport. But does that mean that the Lebanese government should only issue visas at its embassies in Arab capitals?
We should first ignore the nonsensical and xenophobic debate the topic raised in Naharnet’s comments section about whether or not we are Arabs and think with our minds: Rushing into such a move without proper debate will be wrong for two major reasons:
The first and obvious reason is convenience, cost and lost tourism income. Our diplomatic missions in Arab countries are already understaffed, counting on them will cause long waits for visas, which will push the remaining hard-core tourists to find alternatives.
The other more important issue one should think of is reciprocity.
Many Lebanese who make use of the visa-free days allowed in Dubai to look for jobs will be terribly hurt if the UAE government reciprocates and demands visas for Lebanese passport holders.
This is why such measures cannot be implemented without a proper public debate and without a diplomatic push to convince Arab neighbors of their worthy, and more importantly, temporary nature.
Hello, my name is Mustapha and I've been blogging about Lebanese society, business and politics since February 2005.
It is definitely a good idea until such a time when the Lebanese can secure their borders as well as the Israelis.
Lebanese need visa everywhere we go. Except Syria. The bitter irony.
I am sure the governements of these countries understand.
I don’t think it’s a good idea either considering the fact Shaker al-Absi and Co. are definitely not flying first class on MEA or Emirates to get to the country… I don’t know for a fact but I’m pretty sure that the absolute majority of these terrorists are crossing through the uncontrolled borders not through the airport and/or the port!
I don’t think there’s much investigation that our missions abroad will perform anyways…
In all cases these are just ideas; I don’t think anything is solid yet…
I dont understand the fuss. When you want to visit Lebanon and you need a visa, so you get one. Does any Lebanese every cry for the fact that he or she needs a visa for any other visiting country?
The reason why tourists stay away are other reasons than visa, e.g. violence and terrorist attacks.
“diplomatic push to convince Arab neighbors of their worthy, and more importantly, temporary nature”
Any chance Arab neighbors could be trusted and willing to help in screening process?
Alternatively, it may not be necessary to discriminate against people but rather make sure weapons do not get in to country uncontrollably. That way would be terrorists will only have their own dong to operate with.
Lebanese could also learn how to identify friend of foe in the crowd. Being small has its benefits.
Tarek
remember that it seems the police caught one of their members in a luxury hotel in ashrefieh, so why will they not fly first class??????
we donot really who these guys are backed by, which of course does not mean or imply that the new visa strategy will be effective
Duh? Is it ever a good idea to obtain proper travel documents before entering a foreign country? BRILLIANT idea I would say! Unfortunately we are behind the rest of the world by about 100 years. No wonder we have to gain the approval of every foreigner and his sister before enforcing our sovereign riths and national prerogatives on our own territory!!! No wonder every Arab and his sister (minn Suriyya w jirr) feels justified in flouting our right.
Sorry Mustapha, but your question is dangerous (and ultimately dopy) for someone ostensibly supportive of Lebanese sovereignty and freedom to determine its own national course free from outside interference.
Bottom line, NOBODY is welcome in Lebanon (not only Arabs) if they don’t provide adequate (requisite) travel documents (from visas to passports, etc…) This is NOT xenophobia, Mustapha! This is called common sense, enforcement of a state’s authority, and ultimately, one of the sine qua nones of “national security”. In plain LEBANESE:
Yallé 7ayto waaté, ma fi 7adan ma bi fantir 3ley w byefshukh faw2o!
???????? ???????? ????, ?? ?? ??? ?? ?? ??????????? ????? ??????????????? ???????
History tells us that, and more!
a no brainer. No proper documents, no entry into Lebanon no matter what the background is.
Guys, I am not against the idea in principle. But the implementation needn’t be heavy handed.
For example, we get the best of both worlds if we were selective instead of an all-out ban. We can do bilateral agreements with countries with proven track records like the UAE and Tunisia for example.
The whole point of this post was to give this issue a bit more thought and use less superlatives. so yalla guys, this is not about sovereignty or its absence, this is about ideas..
Sorry Mustapha, but you can’t have your cake and eat it too! You need a consistent all-encompassing “immigration law” in in this case! We can’t keep wobbling and dallying and equivocating and massaging OTHER people’s feelings! what’s good for the goose is good for the gander, as they say (but I suppose a political culture like ours, used to the art of deception and double-dealings cannot understand straight talk and somehow perceives honesty and straight talk as lack of shrewdness “shataara”!)
Alas for us Lebanese (and you’re beginning to sound like the rest of us Mustapha), if you’re not a crafty Machiavelli, you’re a loser.
btw, the great Michel Chiha (himself a successful banker and heir of the Chiha-Pharaon banking dynasty) lamented that despicable Lebanese “unprincipled mercantilistic” ethos; an obscene aping of our Phoenician ancestors who intrepid sailors and gifted negotiators (but were also “high-minded and subtle-spirited humanists” as Henri Gouraud put it some 85 years ago.
LNH,
All OECD countries have bilateral immigration agreements. From The USA to the UAE, many countries have a list of countries whose residents don’t need a visa. That is part of the “immigration policy”. This is not about anybody’s feelings. It’s about the interests of our citizens who wouldn’t be well served if harsher immigration rules came from Dubai in retaliation.
Gee Stef,
Attacks, bombs, terrorism, army being shot at and threatened by armed thugs and gangs, war with Israel, Syria sending weapons and bombs, no crime ever solved…for the past 30 years.
Any sane country would have declared martial law or a state of emergency years ago. (Stable Syria has had it for 40 years).
Visas for Arabs?? Only reason for no visas was for the “sacred” tourist season. We sell our country and our souls every year for the God damn tourist season (that never comes).
God damn tourist season is for places at peace with themselves and safe and secure.
Hell, I’m in favor of visas for everyone INCLUDING the Lebanese, until things are under control…
(Ok, just kidding but you get my drift.)
First, we should have the army or a resistance movement on every inch with our border with freakin Syria. Following, visa or no visa for our Arab brothers is a trivial dicision… probably no visa would be warranted ever if this happens
The terrorists will merely recuit non-Arabs sympathetic to whatever is that groups cause. This has been done in the past to subvert efforts of profiling.
A more robust international screening process is necessary.
Wallow ya mustapha…i thought of all people you would not get this wrong…but alas to err is human. Every last person comming to lebanon should have a visa and you know what…if you want to come to lebanon that badly you will make the necessary arrangments to get a visa. i would rather have 100000 happy tourists who will come back than the whole world watching 1 million trying to get the hell out of dodge because one more lunatic decides his religion gives him the right to blow something up or kidnap someones son or daughter for iran and syria.
While on the topic I have never quite understood why lebanon taeks the threat of Syria that placing UN monitors on its borders is an act of war….why not tell moallem and bashare and al sharaa to fuck themsleves and JUST DO IT…what they gonna do that they already havent done? bomb us, kill us, kidnap us, rape us, steal from us, destroy us etc etc.
i mean really…?
Ayesh Lubnan!
I don’t think it will make a huge difference, most of the terrorists are sent here by Syria, and unfortunately Lebanon can’t offer itself the equivalent of a homeland security agency. I think Mustafa is right and we should let the authorities of the originating country do the background checking (at least for relatively friendly countries, you can count Syria and Iran out).
Vox, although you are not exactly wrong (nor was Musatapha btw) I’m afraid I have to depart from what you are saying too. We can’t go on wallowing in mediocrity. Do tell, WHY can’t Lebanon “offer itself the equivalent of a homeland security agency”?? Why do we keep shortchanging Lebanon and acquiese in its inadequacies? Why not set HIGHER standards for our country and work our asses off to meet them?
Mustapha, I see your point about OECD countries having bilateral immigration agreements etc.., but Lebanon is going through exceptionally difficult and dangerous times, and nothing short of austere stringent measures will do the trick at the moment (even if only to give a semblance of confidence to the Lebanese themselves and SEND a clear and firm message to those who still want to play games with us.) It goes back to what I said earlier:
???????? ???????? ????, ?? ?? ??? ?? ?????????????? ????? ??????????????? ???????
and afterall, we’re not talking about Liechtenstein and Iceland here (assuming they are oecd members, maybe i’m wrong)… we’re talking about countries proven to have been breading-grounds, warehouses, and conduits for extremist ideas and their purveyors. enough said.
Always a good idea to require visas of non-citizens especially in times of crisis.
BTW, to keep the proper perspective on this discussion, here is a fact: according to Naharnet 30 of 32 charged with terrorism today were Lebanese. In other words 30 of 32 never needed a visa.
A somewhat naive question perhaps, but why are you so concerned with having tourists from Arab countries?
Lebanon, as I hear, is a beautiful place – and is cheap for someone coming from Europe / US / Japan.
And most of you already speak French, and many English as well. So why not to focus on those tourists, just like we do in Israel?
And, finally we’ll have something real to fight about, the tourists
(More practically though, I’m not sure what such a visa regime would help you with – unless you build a real border, between you and Syria to prevent the foot soldiers from crossing.. but that’s impossible, no?)
Actually Guy, you hit the nail right on the head. Wlak je me tue à leur dire, stop kow towing to Arabs, stop the despicable culture of procurer and pimp to upstarts, stop being sucked into the silly suicidal ethos of “no borders necessary among ‘brothers’…” etc.. (and I’m actually using the term “brothers” facetiously here, not ONLY b/c we’re actually NOT brothers to begin with, but because with devious “brothers” like these who needs enemies?)
It’s precisely this silly culture of not wanting to miss out on the Arab buck that we’ve turned Lebanon into a brothel to satisfy the Arabs’ lewd desires! And for what?
For them to dump on us their failed dogmas, their refuse and brutal dictators, their third rate poets and lackluster artists, their blinkered doctrinaires and outmoded intellectuals, their stupid wars and anti-Israel rhetoric and hang ups, their obsolete ideologues, their crude media, their cowardly dissidents, and their phony paupers, refugees, castoffs, and self-flagellating victims…
Meanwhile, they sail the world scot-free and settle their scores on our soil.
I said it before, but it bears repeating. Lebanon has already paid more than its dues for the Arabs’ failures and inadequacies, and can no longer sustain their stillborn botched up culture! Wanna come and spulrge in Lebanon and take advantage of our liberties and libertine ways, Alf Ahlan wa Sahlan, bass kindly get a visa first.
I can no longer be held hostage of Arab petro dollars
Well,
1. These militants arent flying in to the country! Simply put, most of them, if not all, are poor, unemployed, desperate Arab individuals that have been driven to extremism by the failures of Arab and Muslim societies politically, economically and socially! They are being convinced that the United States and any regime or government that deals with the United States is the cause of all their problems. Syria is using this surplus of desperate extremist souls to open up fronts both in Iraq and Lebanon. Both to strengthen their bargaining space in the intertational arena and to illustrate that without Syria, Lebanon becomes an anarchy. They are clearly sending the world a message: either an anarchy and a new terrorist front in Lebanon as a result of freedom and independence or a Syrian controlled farm with no problems. These militants are sent from Syria in busses, cabs etc.
2. I do not completely disagree with the new security measure proposal. Why? Because the current situation is detering tourists anyway! It is wiser to take temporary measures that have even the smallest chance of minimizing attacks or security infringements in the short-run if it will eventually enable us to take control of the situation and be able to host the millions of tourists safely in the long run. Think priorities people. We have to forgo one good thing in the short run for a lot more sustainable good in the long run.
3. If you think about it, look at these militants faces!! Are the visa officials at the airport actually letting these people in? What do they think theyre coming in to do? Are they also bringing in arms on planes? Of course not. Unless theyre being aided by Hezballah, but thats a different story. Syria is the only transit point. I think instead of the hassel of issuing visas at embassies, they should just issue a preliminary travel authorization. This way the embassy can make a 5 min preliminary judgement whether to let the individual travel or not. They can later obtain the actual visa at the airport.
Why complicate things Mido? Why strand them at the airport in the event that they shouldn’t get an entry visa. I’m a strong believer in KISS; Keep It Simple Stupid. Get a visa, get in; no visa, bye bye now!
For the rest you are spot on. I think this cowardly government wants to seal off the borders with Syria but is afraid to exercise its national authority. So it’s concocting this new “visa regime” in order to get justification for something it should have done some 30 years ago. Pathetic bunch of cowards who, mark my words, have just missed yet another opportunity.
LNH
For them [Arabs] to dump on us their failed dogmas, their refuse and brutal dictators, their third rate poets and lackluster artists, their blinkered doctrinaires and outmoded intellectuals, their stupid wars and anti-Israel rhetoric and hang ups, their obsolete ideologues, their crude media, their cowardly dissidents, and their phony paupers, refugees, castoffs, and self-flagellating victims…
Excellent list Lou.
Well, it’s simple.They require us to apply and queue up for visas; it’s only fair we impose the same requirements. It’s time we started respecting ourselves.I agree that it wouldn’t make it any harder for terrosists to come in- as someone mentionned they are not flying first class nibbling on caviar and sipping champagne(well some of them are if you think about it).Arab toutists walk in Lebanon like they own the place,and if they dont believe they own it, they think they can buy it.You can tell from the way, they treat people working in the service industry…and Lebanese in general. And it’s our fault they treat us like this, bc some of us ran after their money.
So why not make it a bit harder for them, I dont think going to the embassy and applying for a visa is going to kill them.
Having said that, I am all for bilateral agreements.
To answer a previous comment, attracting tourists from Europe and Japan will prove rather difficult, after the July war and what’s happening now.