Jumblat Urges Reconciling National Interest with 'Syrian Refugees Dignity'

Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat called Monday for protecting the national interests while preserving the “dignity” of the Syrian refugees in the country, urging differentiation between those who are “running away from death” and those who are “coming to organize demagogic rallies in support of Syrian President Bashar Assad.”

In his weekly column in the PSP's al-Anbaa electronic newspaper, Jumblat criticized Lebanese authorities for obligating Syrian refugees to go through “complex procedures” on border crossings “without studying the measures thoroughly.”

The General Directorate of General Security announced last week that “new standards will organize the entrance and residency of Syrians in Lebanon.”

Syrians will from now on need visas to enter Lebanon, the thing they did not need in the past decades.

The resolution was put into force on Monday and Syrians started filling the needed documents upon arrival at border crossings or Beirut's airport.

However, Jumblat did not deny that the number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon is “huge due to the war that the Syrian regime started.”

"The number of the Syrian refugees is an economic and social burden on the nation,” he added.

“It is important to differentiate between the refugees who are running away from death and destruction in Syria and those who come to Lebanon for different reasons, such as the ones who carried out demagogic rallies during the farce of Bashar Assad's presidential 'extension',” Jumblat went on to say.

Accordingly, Jumblat urged Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq and General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim to take into consideration the need to “harmonize between the higher national interest and the dignity of the Syrian refugees.”

He also stressed the importance of “protecting those who fled the raging fire in Syria from some racist, right-wing Lebanese speeches.”

“Is it important to remind some parties of the manner in which the Syrian people welcomed the Lebanese during the July 2006 aggression? The Syrians are now facing what is more egregious than the Israeli aggression.”

Turning to other issues, the PSP chief underlined the importance of “treating the people of (the Bekaa border town of) Arsal properly instead of treating this town as if it was Kandahar.”

He also called for "respecting the mediators who are exerting major efforts to secure the release the Lebanese servicemen and put an end to this humanitarian issue.”

The servicemen were taken hostage in early August at the hands of Islamic State and al-Nusra Front militants who overran Arsal and engaged in deadly battles with the Lebanese army.

Four captives have been executed to date and the two groups are threatening to kill more hostages if the Lebanese government does not meet their demands.

M.Y.

Y.R.