Lebanon insists on returning Syrian refugees to homeland: Minister

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BEIRUT– Lebanon insists on returning Syrian refugees to their homeland, Social Affairs Minister Hector Hajjar said Wednesday.

“In Brussels, behind the scenes of all the meetings dealing with the issue of displaced Syrians, the Europeans are clinging to their position rejecting the return of the Syrians to their country,” Hajjar tweeted.


He was questioning the purpose of the ongoing Seventh Brussels Conference held by the European Union on finding political solutions to the Syrian crisis.

“It is their duty to secure aid, but we will only be satisfied if the displaced return to their homeland,” the Lebanese minister noted.

On Tuesday, the Lebanese cabinet affirmed its final position that the displaced Syrians must return to their country safely and dignifiedly in line with international resolutions.

The cabinet also announced that a Lebanese ministerial delegation would visit Syria soon to discuss the return of refugees with Syrian authorities.

Lebanon aims to secure a safe return for Syrian refugees to their homeland as the country’s internal security and economic situation can no longer support their stay.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib previously said there are about 2 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon, and the figure threatens to disrupt the structure of Lebanese society.  

In a related development , donors in Brussels have pledged €9.6 billion ($10.3 billion) in grants and loans to support Syrian people both in and around the country.

The money committed at the Brussels VII Conference: “Supporting the future of Syria and the region, was held in the Belgian capital on Thursday and is supposed to help the 15 million people inside war-torn Syria, as well as the neighbouring countries hosting Syrian refugees, which themselves are in a dire economic situation.

The amount falls short of the €10.1bn asked for by the United Nations in a humanitarian appeal.

Of the 6.8 million Syrians that left the country, around five million are not far from home.

Turkey received more than three million refugees, and the rest are mainly spread over Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt.

Lebanon by far has the highest per capita number of refugees in the world . In some Lebanese towns and villages there are more Syrian refugees than Lebanese .

Josep Borrell  blasted for his comments by Lebanese minister

The High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell at Brussels VII Conference on Syria was blasted by minister Hajjar for saying “We cannot accept that the refugees could be forced to go back to Syria without the conditions for a safe and dignified return being fulfilled. These kinds of policies of sending these people to Syria by force has been proven [to be] completely ineffective .

“It must be recalled that the awaited political solution to the Palestinian issue has passed 75 years, and the Palestinians are still dispersed in all parts of the earth. Lebanon has welcomed the displaced Syrians with open arms, and they have endured their burden for more than 12 years, and they constitute more than 30 percent of the Lebanese population. In Lebanon we respect your humanitarian choice and have worked on its basis during the past 12 years, but its results were not good for the displaced Syrians or for the Lebanese society hosting them.”

Hajjar continued, “As for your political choice, it has proven its failure 12 years ago, but we are ready to support it if you decide to receive in Europe about 7 million displaced Syrians , provided that you return them to their country upon formulating a clear political solution to the Syrian crisis that is acceptable according to your standards.”

(Xinhua)/ YL/ Nees Agencies

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