Report: Government Suspends Deportation of Syrians after Growing Pressure
The Lebanese authorities decided to stop deporting Syrians following local and international pressure on the government in the aftermath of the deportation of 14 people by the General Security Department, An Nahar daily reported on Saturday.
The newspaper said that an agreement was reached among President Michel Suleiman, Speaker Nabih Berri and the major political parties in the government to stop the deportations even if some judicial cases allow such a move.
The decision reflects the growing pressure by international parties and human rights organizations to prevent the handing over of Syrians to the Damascus authorities for fear of persecution on their return.
The deportation of the 14 Syrians on Wednesday caused a stir in Lebanon after the March 14 opposition alliance called on the resignation of Premier Najib Miqati’s government.
The United States and the European Union also voiced concerns through their ambassadors to Beirut.
But during an Iftar on Friday, Miqati supported the General Security’s decision, saying the humanitarian situation of the Syrian refugees must not become an obstacle to the implementation of judicial verdicts against people convicted of crimes that have nothing to do with politics.
He also said the government will continue to dissociate itself from the Syrian crisis.
Also Saturday, Interior Minister Marwan Charbel told al-Liwaa newspaper that he will ask the government to set legal and judicial ways to deal with Syrians arrested in Lebanon.
The 14 Syrians were deported after they served their sentences in Lebanon in accordance with a judicial agreement signed between the two countries in 1951, he said.
Snapping back at critics that the men could be persecuted, Charbel said six Syrians, who were accused of smuggling arms in a boat in the northern city of Tripoli, were arrested several months ago but were not handed over to the Syrian authorities to prevent their persecution as regime opponents.
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