Derbas Denies Obtaining Report on Naturalization of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon

Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas denied on Wednesday reports saying that he obtained a report stating that the U.N.'s refugee agency is planning to naturalize 100,000 Syrian refugee in Lebanon.

Derbas, however, said that Thursday's cabinet session will tackle the "sudden" situation imposed by the refugees crisis.

The minister expressed fear over the “dangerous situation that needs a serious solution.”

“The international community isn't mulling the possibility of the naturalization of the Syrians,” he stressed.

Al-Liwaa quoted the minister on Wednesday saying that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is seeking to naturalize Syrians in Lebanon and to issue passports for those refugees.

“I will discuss the matter during Thursday's cabinet session,” the minister reportedly told the newspaper.

He expressed belief that the government will reject such a plan, hoping that more attention would be given to the matter by the Arab and international communities.

Last week, Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil warned of a “veiled attempt to naturalize the refugees" through creating camps inside Lebanese territory.

Hosting more than 1.1 million Syrians fleeing their country's three-year war, Lebanon is home to the highest number of Syrian refugees in the region, and also to the highest refugee population per capita in the world.

U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres warned last week that the spiraling crisis from Syria's civil war could pose a serious threat to Lebanon's security.

Reports said that the cabinet is mulling the establishment of camps in buffer zones between the Lebanese border crossing al-Masnaa and Jdeidet Yabous crossing on the Syrian side.

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