Lebanon

A mediterranean country, Lebanon borders Syria and Israel. Still recovering from a brutal civil war and periods of military occupation by both Israel and Syria, Lebanon is a parliamentary democracy with a complex confessional system, whereby quotas of seats in the parliament and key positions in the government are divided more or less proportionally between the officially recognised religious groups. While Lebanon is less overtly repressive than some of its regional neighbours, major issues remain with attacks on journalists and campaigners, the abuse of migrant workers and the situation of the country’s more than 400,000 Palestinian refugees, the vast majority of whom are denied their rights to access government services, own property or travel outside of designated areas.