BEIRUT – Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati appealed on Tuesday to the international community for assistance in addressing the Syrian refugee issue in Lebanon, the National News Agency (NNA) reported.
The prime minister made the remarks at the ongoing 78th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
“I will ask the international community to support us in facing the displacement crisis, as Lebanon hosts a big number of displaced Syrians,” said Mikati.
He added that thousands of additional displaced people are arriving in Lebanon every day causing “an imbalance in Lebanon’s economy.”
With an estimated 2.2 million Syrian refugees residing within its borders, Lebanon bears the weight of hosting the largest number of refugees per capita. The presence of Syrian refugees has put a strain on Lebanon’s resources and stoked widespread discontent among its citizens.
Last month Lebanese Minister of the Displaced Issam Charafeddine called on Syrian authorities to cooperate in managing the common border amid a new wave of illegal immigration from Syria to Lebanon.
Charafeddine made the appeal as the Lebanese army, short of troops, is not capable of controlling the shared border by itself, the National News Agency reported.
The country’s security forces have been cracking down on human smuggling in areas bordering Syria, as Lebanon is suffering a major financial crisis and the refugees weigh heavily on its already strained economy.
Unlike the previous waves of Syrian refugees, this time they are mostly males between 20 and 50 years old. In the previous waves that started in 2011, the majority were women and children .
Most of the refugees travel back and forth between Lebanon and Syria regularly without any security issues . For this reason observers ask why doesn’t Lebanon insisist on deporting all the Syrians except a handful of people that are wanted by the regime ?
“If Europe wants to keep the refugees away , why should Lebanon be singled out as the country that should host them?” One observer asked . If Europe really cares about the Syrian refugees they should create a safe enclave for them in Syria so that they can go back home and live in dignity in their own country.
According to Lebanese media reports as many as 300,000 young Syrian refugees are expected to flee to Lebanon within months. These are all young men between 20 and 50 years old who have served in the Syrian army and can be quickly organized and armed to fight the Lebanese army and reoccupy Lebanon as Syria did in 1975.Commenting on Charafeddine’s appeal for Syria’s help, Lebanee observer Sobhi Mansour was quoted as saying : ” The only group that knows all the illegal border points between Lebanon and Syria is Hezbollah.” He added: “Most of the illegal border points and the routs leading to them were established by Hezbollah during the past 10 years when it helped the Syrian dictator in crushing the revolution. Instead of asking for Syria’s help Sharafeddine should. ask for Hezbollah’s help , since he is allied with them and they should be able to help.”
(Xinhua)/ News Agencies
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