The Untold Story of Agency: Syrian Unaccompanied Minors in Lebanon

by Luigi Achilli

In the prevailing discourse surrounding migration, a narrative frequently emerges, painting a grim picture of exploitation and victimization at the hands of vast criminal networks. This perspective, heavily echoed in media and policy circles, suggests a world where migrants, particularly the most vulnerable among them, are ensnared in a web spun by omnipotent traffickers and smugglers. Yet, this narrative, while rooted in elements of truth, overshadows a crucial aspect of the migrant experience: the agency of these minors—namely, their ability to make independent choices and exert control over their own lives, even in adverse conditions.

Unaccompanied Minors: Navigating a Complex Terrain

The Syrian crisis, igniting in March 2011, triggered an exodus unparalleled in recent history, with millions seeking refuge from the relentless war. Among the most vulnerable are unaccompanied minors, whose journeys encapsulate the dire circumstances pushing them to leave their homeland. Lebanon, a country with deep historical and cultural ties to Syria, has become a critical waypoint for these young migrants. Yet, their arrival in Lebanon marks the beginning of a new set of challenges rather than the end of their perilous journey.

Central to their survival in Lebanon is their engagement which I termed "markets of dispossession," a concept that captures the essence of the informal and often illicit economic activities these minors are drawn into. Far from the orchestrated operations of criminal masterminds, these markets represent a spectrum of coping mechanisms, born out of a milieu rife with poverty, inequality, and scant opportunities for lawful economic engagement. These are spaces where disenfranchised individuals, stripped of their rights and often their dignity, find ways to assert their agency.

Lebanon's Beqaa Valley: the story of Fatima

The Beqaa Valley, with its sprawling farmlands nestled between mountains, has become one of many emblematic places of the Syrian crisis. Here, these markets of dispossession are in full display. The story of Fatima, a 15-year-old Syrian girl responsible for her siblings in the absence of their parents, illuminates their mechanisms and the interconnection with migrant agency.

Fatima’s parents, after leaving her and her siblings behind with promises of return, never came back. "I am the one who takes care of them," she reveals, her voice betraying a mix of determination and vulnerability. Fatima's precarious situation led her to a job at a local jam factory, a role she secured through the intervention of a key figure within the refugee community: the shawish. Acting as a camp coordinator or intermediary, the shawish has the authority to negotiate jobs for the refugees, often in the informal economy. Fatima's employment, and that of others like her, is facilitated by the shawish, who takes a portion of their earnings as a form of commission. "The shawish takes all the girls there [to the jam factory]," Fatima explained to me, highlighting a system where employment is intertwined with a level of exploitation. Despite this, Fatima acknowledged the role of the shawish: “The shawish has connections. Without him, there’s no job for me. He takes some of my earnings, yes, but he also gives me work.” The Shawish was not a criminal kingpin but an impoverished refugee who sought to make end meet in a situation of protracted displacement.

Redefining Agency Amidst Exploitation

Like Fatima’s story, the experiences of many Syrian unaccompanied minors in Lebanon challenge the binary of victim and perpetrator that often dominates discussions of migration. Their stories reveal a spectrum of experiences where exploitation and agency are not mutually exclusive but are instead intertwined in the daily realities of survival. These minors, in their pursuit of safety and stability, negotiate their paths through a landscape marked by legal precarity and socio-economic vulnerability. The policies that the Lebanese government—and other countries along the migration route of these minors—has adopted became increasingly punitive, imposing physical restrictions and surveillance measures that concomitantly criminalized and marginalized minors and other migrants. The interactions of minors with criminal or criminalized markets often do not arise from the growth of powerful criminal networks. Instead, they are a result of minors resorting to precarious, illicit strategies to achieve their migration goals or merely cope with their ongoing criminalization.