Acting Head of General Security Elias al-Baissari told MTV’s “Sar el-waet” TV program on Thursday that “almost 42% of Lebanon’s inhabitants are currently Syrians, whose numbers have reached around two million, including displaced persons and those residing legally.”
He added that the Lebanese authorities have no figures for Syrian nationals who have entered the country “clandestinely without being registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).”
General Baissari also assured that “the UNHCR has still not handed over the data relating to displaced Syrians,” as agreed with the General Security, following “arduous negotiations”. “The deadline set was three months, two of which have already elapsed,” he said, adding that “any strategy must be based on precise data rather than supposition.”
“If we do not receive the data, we know how to act as an administration. All official procedures for foreigners require the approval of General Security,” said the general, alluding to the residence permits that are supposed to be delivered to UNHCR employees by the Lebanese authorities.
Furthermore, the General pointed out that “the Lebanese people are paying an exorbitant price due to the wave of Syrian migration.” “We have spent considerable sums over the last 12 years, not least because of the supportive policy adopted by the Lebanese government,” he explained. He added: “The Lebanese can neither be bought nor sold.”
Finally, General Baissari warned against an “explosion” of the Syrian migrant issue, which “will spare no one, including Europe.” In his view, this issue should be “at the top of the agenda” and would require “a unified political decision.”
