The purpose of this policy brief is to inform policy formulation on local level security
provision and refugee protection, and to propose modalities for upgrading the systems
of the Lebanese security institutions in a way that strengthens protection of
the Lebanese communities and the Syrian refugees they host. Based on field research
conducted between February and May 2016 in three locations across Lebanon, this
brief analyses the challenges to protecting local communities and refugees in a hybrid
system, in which formal and informal security actors coexist and implement a mix of
security measures. It also argues that the current securitisation approach, which relies
on negative deterrence, enhances perceptions of insecurity among the Lebanese and
infringes on the rights and dignity of the refugees.