Minister Holds ‘Positive’ Talks in Syria on Refugees’ Return

Caretaker Social Affairs and Tourism Minister Ramzi Musharrafieh affirmed on Friday that his recent meeting with Syrian officials in Damascus on the refugee file were “positive and encouraging.”

He said the “discussions with Syrian officials during his recent visit to Damascus were more than positive and very encouraging,” and that “all the ministers he met with, expressed their full readiness to work with Lebanon to activate the file of the return of displaced persons.”

He said he received guarantees that a “dignified and safe return will be achieved for the displaced.”

The Minister said he stressed with the Syrian side the need for approaching this file in terms of its human dimension, considering that the safe and dignified return of the displaced to their country is the only sustainable solution.

“We will assist them in all available means and through coordination with the Syrian state, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the international community in general,” he added.

Lebanon, a small Mediterranean country with a population of about 5 million, hosts the highest concentration of refugees per capita, estimated at around 1 million. Most of them live in informal makeshift tent settlements spread out across Lebanon's Bekaa, not far from the Syrian border.