Caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said on Tuesday that the European Union is willing to start a dialogue on the status of more than 2 million war-displaced Syrians who have been “sheltering” in Lebanon for the past 12 years.
“The main point of contention with the Europeans is that Lebanon believes that the majority of the Syrians are staying here for economic reasons, while the EU insists that they are political refugees,” Bou Habib said at a press conference on June 20.
He pointed out that “despite declarations made by the EU Foreign Minister, the Europeans have accepted to start a dialogue with the Lebanese on the contentious points, while in the past they did not even want to address the issue.”
“We have a problem here because Lebanon, which has a population of 4 million, hosts 2 million refugees, meaning that half of the population consists of refugees,” Bou Habib said, stressing, however, that “forced repatriation of Syrians is out of the question.”
“There will only be voluntary return taking into consideration human rights, humanitarian principles, and safety,” he added.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell had declared that the EU does not support the return of Syrians to their country unless the return is “voluntary,” safe, and monitored by international groups.
Asked about the fate of Lebanon’s ambassador in France, Ramy Adwan, the Minister said he will return to Beirut and his case will be referred to the judicial authorities.
“As of June 21, Ambassador Adwan will vacate the diplomatic residence as he will no longer be a diplomat. He was appointed from outside the diplomatic cadre and will be a regular citizen again,” Bou Habib said.
Adwan was suspended from his duties on June 14, following complaints of rape and verbal and physical abuse lodged against him by two former employees of the Lebanese embassy.
