Change and Reform Urges 'Measures' to Return Refugees to Syria

The Change and Reform parliamentary bloc on Tuesday called for “measures” to expedite the return of Syrian refugees to their country in light of the latest ceasefire there and the decline in violence.

“The necessary measures must be taken for the return of the refugees after this ceasefire. Following the statements about safe areas in Syria, practical decisions must be taken,” MP Ibrahim Kanaan announced after the bloc's weekly meeting in Rabieh.

“A senior European official has openly said that the threat of naturalization in Lebanon is real,” Kanaan added, stressing that “the issue is not an illusion and no one is fabricating it.”

“We support offering them aid in the current period but not for setting up a long-term infrastructure,” the MP went on to say.

Warning that “the increase in population has exceeded 35%,” Kanaan lamented that the bloc's ministers were accused of “racism” when they raised the issue during cabinet sessions.

“The magnitude of what happened is huge and it resembles the migration of an entire people to another country,” Kanaan said.

“The same political blocs that launched accusations against us are not doing anything today to confront naturalization,” he added.

FPM chief and Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil had warned last month that there are indirect efforts to naturalize Syrian refugees in Lebanon, calling for “unilateral and sovereign steps, otherwise naturalization will be imposed on us.”

“I know that some politicians have remained silent over this issue for political and sectarian interests,” Bassil said, a day after U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon and other international officials concluded a three-day visit to Lebanon.

The minister's remarks drew sharp rebuke from some political parties, which accused Bassil of making “fabrications” that could be aimed at “deviating attention” from the issue of the presidential vacuum.

Lebanon is home to more than one 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.

Y.R.

M.T.