General Security Official: No Decision to Deny Entry for Palestinians Fleeing Syria
An official in the General Security Department denied that Lebanese authorities have taken a decision to prevent Palestinian refugees escaping the fighting in Syria to enter Lebanon.
In remarks to pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat published on Saturday, the official who was not identified said: “The same measures are being applied on all the refugees (coming) to Lebanon from Syria whether they were Palestinians and Syrians.”
General Security “is implementing the measures that were underway before the Syrian crisis started in terms of checking their documents and identification papers,” the high-ranking source said.
His remark came a few days after Human Rights watch said most Palestinians trying to enter Lebanon have been denied entry since August 6, 2013.
An HRW statement said people stranded at the border included "entire families, children, the elderly and the sick".
It said the Beirut government "should urgently rescind its decision to bar Palestinians from Syria from entering Lebanon.”
From August 6, it appears "the only Palestinians allowed to enter Lebanon were Palestinians with Lebanese wives or mothers, or who had plane tickets to leave Beirut that day,” HRW said.
It said there has been no public announcement of a change in policy.
Some 675,000 people fleeing Syria's conflict have sought shelter in tiny Lebanon, the U.N. says, among them 60,000 Palestinians.
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