Document #1008006
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
Please find attached a copy of the
responses to information requests 1866 and 2825, which add to the
documents already consulted by the requester.
Also attached, please find a copy of the
article "Militia won't heed Syrian-backed Beirut" (Los Angeles
Times, 3 January 1991) and pages 87-89 of Libanon - Dossier
fuer Hilfswerkvertreter/Innen (Switzerland: Office central
suisse d'aide aux réfugiés, March 1990). The first
article gives figures that suggest the composition of the South
Lebanon Army (SLA) does not reflect the ethnic or religious
composition of the region it operates in (population is 30 percent
Christian, while the SLA is reported to be 50 percent Christian).
The second report states that two thirds of the SLA are Christian
and one third Shiite, adding that militiamen earn a salary of
approximately US$130 a month, described as "very good" (sehr gut)
for the place, while relatives of SLA militiamen have the right to
work in Israel. The Swiss report indicates on page 87 that a number
of village-militias cooperate with the the SLA.
More recent additional or corroborating
information could not be found among the sources currently
available to the IRBDC.