Salam: Naturalization Debate Being Exploited for Political Gain
Prime Minister Tammam Salam expressed his exasperation with the ongoing debate on alleged plans to naturalize refugees in Lebanon, saying that the claims are “baseless,” reported As Safir newspaper on Monday.
“The possibility of naturalization is an illusion,” he added.
“Some sides are exploiting this issue for political and sectarian purposes among Christians as if the parliamentary elections will be held tomorrow,” he remarked.
“If someone is sad that he has not been able to play a certain role, then this is not the way to make up for the shortcomings,” Salam said in an indirect reference to Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil.
Bassil had warned around a week ago that there are attempts to naturalize refugees in Lebanon, demanding that greater efforts be taken to return displaced Syrians to their homeland.
He urged Lebanese officials to take “unilateral” measures to contain the flow of refugees to protect Lebanon's sovereignty.
He also did not meet with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon during his recent trip to Lebanon, accusing him of seeking to further plans to naturalize the displaced.
Salam said: “The U.N. is not a colonial empire. Ban's term will end in six months and I did not hear anything suspicious from him during his trip.”
“On the contrary, what he proposed serves Lebanon and helps it shoulder the burden of refugees.”
“Why should we risk squandering this support through internal political debates. We will only incur more damage and harm this way. We will only be shooting ourselves in the foot.”
Lebanon is home to more than 1 million registered Syrian refugees, or nearly a quarter of the country's 4.5 million people. Lebanese officials say that another half a million Syrians live in the country as well.
M.T.
D.A.
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