Country Report 2018: Lebanon

Abstract

Individuals are mainly free to form organizations, and the process is not burdensome in terms of required papers and fees, however the timeline is unclear. The papers can be submitted at the Ministry for months before hearing back and individuals must follow up on the status of their registration themselves, requiring many visits to the ministry. At the same time, the process and the governing body are inconsistent as legally the Ministry of Interior is the official body responsible for the registration; however, recently groups are being sent to the General Security to run security checks for the people who apply for registration. While this has been attributed to security concerns following the Syrian refugee influx and the attempts to form fake nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), it is causing major delays.