Beirut: Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib has called for resolving the Syrian refugee issue through dialogue, media reported.
“The refugees’ issue must be resolved by a dialogue with European countries and not through the attempt of some influential European countries to impose their stay in Lebanon indefinitely,” Bou Habib said on Tuesday during a discussion session held in Rome, Italy, organised by the Italian Society for International Organisations.
“There is no clear road map until now for resolving their tragedy. Syrian refugees have lived in Lebanon for 12 years, awaiting a solution,” he added.
He said that the displaced Syrians are not political refugees but economic refugees, and Lebanon’s internal situation can no longer tolerate their stay there, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported.
The Minister added that Lebanon is hosting the largest number of refugees per capita, with about two million Syrian refugees living in the country, and the figure threatens to disrupt the structure of Lebanese society, Xinhua news agency reported.
“There has always been a balance between Christians and Muslims where they felt equal with no preference given to one over the other,” he said.
Bou Habib also revealed that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and other officials had informed him that Syria has 40 laws to ensure that refugees, including opponents and dissidents, are not punished in any way.
“The Syrian side has informed us of its willingness to cooperate with international organisations to ensure that returnees to Syria are not subjected to any harassment or arbitrary prosecution,” he added.
Bou Habib announced last month that the cost of Syrian refugees’ stay in Lebanon is estimated at around $6 billion per year compared to $3 billion as assessed by the World Bank in 2013.
Last month, the Lebanese government asked the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to provide Lebanon’s Interior Ministry with data on the displaced Syrians, aiming to tighten refugee measures by cancelling the “refugee status” for those who had left the Lebanese territory.
–IANS
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