2023-07-13 21:09:30
BEIRUT, July 13, 2023 (Xinhua) – A decision issued by the European Parliament yesterday (Wednesday) to support keeping Syrian refugees in Lebanon has sparked rejection and criticism by Lebanese officials and parties, considering it “interference in the internal affairs” of Lebanon.
Yesterday (Wednesday), the European Parliament voted by majority in support of keeping Syrian refugees in Lebanon, and in its decision expressed its “concern about the escalation of anti-refugee rhetoric by Lebanese political parties and ministers.”
The European Parliament urged Lebanon to “refrain from deportation, the imposition of discriminatory measures and incitement to hatred against Syrian refugees” in the event of any action on immigration.
In a statement today (Thursday), the Minister of Displaced Affairs in the caretaker government, Essam Sharaf El-Din, described the decision of the European Parliament as “arbitrary and unacceptable.”
“The decision aims to put pressure on Lebanon not to go with an official ministerial delegation to Syria with the aim of starting to develop a protocol and implement a mechanism for the safe return of the displaced to their homes,” Sharaf El-Din said, considering that it is “blatant interference in our internal national affairs.”
The Lebanese minister described the decision as “unfair to Lebanon, which suffers a lot economically, socially, security and environmentally, and may suffer a demographic future as a result of this file.”
Sharaf al-Din stressed that “with the change of conditions and the change of conditions for the better and the absence of positive reasons, a dignified and safe return has become an obligatory matter.”
For his part, Minister of Economy and Trade Amin Salam stated, “The European Parliament has neither the right nor the authority to issue a decision related to keeping the displaced or deporting them, because this decision is an internal Lebanese sovereign matter.”
Salam asked, “If the European countries are keen on the displaced, why do they refuse to receive them and struggle the entry of refugees into their countries and on their land and sea borders?”
In turn, the head of the Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Committee in the Lebanese Parliament, Fadi Alama, denounced the European decision, saying that it “contradicts the constitution, Lebanese and international laws, and the right of the displaced to return to his homeland.”
Alama said in a statement that what was stated in the European Parliament’s decision “blatantly violates Lebanese sovereignty,” calling for “not politicizing the file of the displaced and keeping it within its natural humanitarian framework.”
Alama called on the European Parliament to “communicate with the Lebanese and Syrian governments and the League of Arab States and listen to their point of view.”
And Faisal Karami, a member of Parliament and head of the “Dignity Movement,” said in a statement that “the decision has no legal value and a violation of international law because it interfered in sovereign affairs related to other countries.”
In the context, Lebanese parliamentarians and parties, including the Lebanese Forces, the Lebanese Kataeb and the Free Patriots, rejected the European Parliament’s decision in statements.
The Lebanese caretaker government had confirmed on June 13 that the Syrian refugees in Lebanon should return to their country in coordination with Syria and the Arab League, provided that it be a dignified and safe return in line with international resolutions.
The government emphasized direct coordination with Syria through a ministerial delegation headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the membership of the Ministers of the Displaced, Social Affairs, Labor, Culture, Tourism, Agriculture, Information, the Secretary General of the Supreme Defense Council and the Director of Public Security.
The Lebanese General Security had previously implemented a plan for the safe and voluntary return of the displaced, in coordination with the Syrian authorities, which included, between 2017 and 2019, about 540,000 refugees, but work on this plan stopped with the outbreak of the Corona pandemic.
The Lebanese General Security estimates the number of Syrian refugees residing in the country at two million and 80 thousand, while the number of Syrian refugees registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Lebanon is 825 thousand refugees. /ts/
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