Mogherini Meets Salam, Bassil, Underlines Political Solution to End Refugee Plight
European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini kicked off on Monday an official visit to Lebanon by holding talks with Prime Minister Tammam Salam and later Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil, with the Syrian refugee crisis at the heart of discussions.
Bassil emphasized that Lebanon's constitution “prohibits the naturalization of Syrian refugees.”
He highlighted during a joint press conference with the EU official the need to reach a political solution to the crisis in Syria in order to ease the refugee burden.
“Lebanon can no longer support this burden,” he said.
“The safe return of Syrian refugees to their country can precede a political solution to the crisis,” he added, while noting that Lebanese authorities have never resorted to force to thwart the flow of refugees.
“Lebanon has been generous in taking in the displaced,” he said.
For her part, Mogherini acknowledged the strain Lebanon is under due to the refugee influx, echoing Bassil's call for a political solution to the Syrian conflict.
She hoped that a political mechanism would be reached in Syria to end the crisis and the refugees' plight.
Bassil and Mogherini also touched on the growing threat of terrorism in the region and the world, with the minister stressing the need to exert more efforts to confront this danger.
He thanked the EU for its support to Lebanon's stability, while Mogherini said that the union and Lebanon “have common interests in combating terrorism.”
“The EU will continue on supporting Lebanon, but this is not enough as the Lebanese need to exert efforts of their own through state institutions,” she declared.
During her one-day trip, Mogherini will visit a Syrian refugee informal settlement and a public school in the eastern Bekaa town of Bar Elias.
She is scheduled to hold a press conference later in the day at the delegation of the European Union in Beirut.
Mogherini arrived in the Lebanese capital from Brussels on Sunday night.
The EU has already granted Lebanon 1.5 billion euros ($1.7 billion) since the outbreak of war in neighboring Syria in 2011, she said.
Mogherini's visit came as Europe grapples with its worst migrant crisis since World War II.
But while over a million migrants reached Europe's shores in 2015 alone, Syria's neighbors have shouldered the bulk of the refugee crisis triggered by the five-year war.
Lebanon alone is hosting around 1.5 million refugees -- a huge number for a country of four million people.
Mogherini's visit also came as a landmark EU-Turkish deal took effect, with Brussels seeking to curb the influx to Europe.
"Our work on Syrian refugees isn't only in Turkey but also very strong and from the very beginning in Lebanon," she said, adding that she would "bring the same message" on a visit to Amman on Tuesday.
Lebanon has since the outbreak of war in Syria become home to the world's highest refugee population per capita.
Turkey hosts 2.7 million Syrians, while over 630,000 have sought shelter in Jordan, according to the United Nations.
G.K./M.T.
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