Caretaker Minister of the Displaced Issam Charafeddin headed to Damascus this Saturday, where he met with the Syrian minister of local Administration and Environment, Hussein Makhlouf, in charge of the refugees file, and the Syrian minister of Interior, Mohammad al-Rahmun. He held talks with them on the issue of refugees and their return to Syria as well as preparations for an official visit by a Lebanese ministerial delegation to Damascus.
This visit takes place against a backdrop of Lebanese exasperation with the presence of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, especially that many Syrians left their country for economic and not political reasons, while Lebanon is facing the worst economic and financial crisis in its history. Several international factors, including the return of the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to the Arab fold and the Five-Party Summit in Amman, point to a possible return of refugees to their homeland.
