Caretaker Minister of Interior Bassam Mawlawi has revealed that more than two million Syrian migrants reside in Lebanon, rejecting any financial temptations to settle them.
“Lebanon is not for sale,” Mawlawi said, stressing “we cannot be tempted with aid aimed at keeping Syrians or settling them in Lebanon.”
In an interview with Saudi daily Asharq Al-Awsat during his visit to Paris, Mawlawi said “only 600,000 Syrians have obtained legal residency permits,” while the large majority “do not possess any permits issued by the Lebanese General Security.”
He linked the “very thorny” issue of Syrian presence in Lebanon, to “international politics, American and European positions, as well as the (internal) situation in Syria,” adding that “We in Lebanon cannot wait for this integrated solution.”
