“The majority of Syrian refugees are pro-revolution, so they go to areas where they are welcome. But now these areas are full and they started to go to other places,” says Chamieh.

 

On the TV behind him flickers muted grainy footage from opposition protests across Syria. Raised fists, silent opened mouths, the green-white-black flags of the revolution. A browser open on his computer shows the website of Mustaqbal News, a pro-March 14 news outlet.

 

Chamieh is part of the Humanitarian Association Collaboration, an umbrella organization that coordinates humanitarian aid to Syrians arriving in southern Lebanon, a region that has seen few refugees until recently.

 

“We are worried,” says Chamieh. “We cannot cope with the refugees we have here already and if fighting increases in Damascus, we won’t be able to manage.”

 

International aid organizations are also ringing the alarm. Already, 2,000 to 3,000 refugees cross into Lebanon every day. With more than 250,000 already here, Lebanon hosts the largest number of refugees of any country that shares a border with Syria. In recent weeks, Syria’s opposition has pushed the front line closer and closer to Damascus. This city of 2.5 million lies less than 50 kilometers from the Lebanese border. With ever fiercer fighting, more and more Syrians are expected to become refugees.

 

Lebanon’s border areas in the eastern Beqaa Valley and north of Tripoli – as well as neighborhoods in Beirut – are hosting Syrians in private homes, empty schools, and abandoned construction sites. But these capacities are increasingly exhausted. Towns like Arsal saw its population swell by 30 percent since the onset of the war.

 

With refugees now increasingly streaming into predominantly Shiite south, tensions are on the rise. “There are complaints from the people of Tyre,” says Ayman Alghazal, head of the Tyre municipality, “every day we have new arrivals.” Syrian families are sleeping in the street, until they are able to register with the municipality as refugees and receive help. “The economic situation in Tyre is especially bad. The big numbers of refugees came as a shock.”

 

The city is famous for its long white beaches and picturesque ancient ruins. But international tourists that used to be a major source of income in the city are nowhere to be seen these days. Instead, pickpocketing is on the rise. “Crime has increased as refugees come here with nothing,” says Alghazal.

 

The Shia-aligned Amal movement is providing counseling for traumatized children, French classes, and help to shoulder hospital bills. The United Nations refugee agency is providing help as well. “The Syrians hosted us in 2006, so we have to do it now. It doesn’t matter to us if they are pro- or anti-revolution,” says Alghazal, who works as a facilitator between all aid organizations and refugees.

 

In Nabatieh, deep into the Shiite heartland and the unofficial Hezbollah capital, the situation is drastically different. The question of pro- or anti-revolution constantly hovers over the heads of the refugees. Too often it is less a question of politics than of religion.

 

As Hezbollah is generally known to support the regime of Bashar al-Assad, one of the first questions arriving refugees are asked is about their sect, says a local activist who wished to be known as Dana. “Shiites and Alawis are welcomed, while Sunnis are facing daily pressure.”

 

Nabatieh is hosting approximately 8,000 – 10,000 refugees. Those supporting the revolution are wise to keep their opinions to themselves. According to one account, a woman who lost her brother, who was a fighter with the Free Syrian Army, had to hide her grief. Otherwise she feared that she would face repercussions.

 

Sunni migrant workers that lived in the south prior to the war have faced repercussions already. As the fighting grew ever more violent, they increasingly faced physical and psychological pressure. Many of them moved elsewhere.

 

With the war in Syria entering its third year, huge swaths of the country have been destroyed. Whole city blocks have been leveled by shelling and aerial attacks. The center of Aleppo, what was Syria’s largest city, looks like a ghost town.

 

Back in Saida, Chamieh flicks through the website of Sunni-aligned Mustaqbal News. “The damage in Syria is so great, it will take years until the refugees can go back,” he says. “Even though most of them are from my sect, I want them to go. They are creating problems.”

 

Yara Chehayed contributed to this report.