Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati encouraged the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on Tuesday to redirect its support for Syrian refugees “through incentive projects in their country to encourage them to return, rather than staying as refugees in Lebanon.” This occurred during a meeting with the Commissioner of the UNHCR Filippo Grandi, on December 12 at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva.
The meeting took place on the eve of the Prime Minister’s participation in the Global Refugee Forum, where the Prime Minister is expected to deliver a speech.
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Abdullah Bou Habib, Lebanon’s Ambassador to Switzerland Rola Noureddine, Lebanon’s Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva Slim Baddoura, and the Prime Minister’s advisor Ziad Mikati also attended the meeting with Mikati and Grandi.
During the meeting, Grandi stated, “There is a refugee problem in more than one country, which poses a challenge for the commission because financial support is not as it used to be. We believe that the optimal solution is to support refugees in Syria, but this will take some time.”
“We have reached an agreement with the Syrian side to open a coordination office for the commission on the Lebanese-Syrian border. This will regulate the movement of displaced individuals,” added Grandi.
Mikati reiterated that “Lebanon bears the majority of the burden of refugees for humanitarian reasons, but we cannot continue this at the expense of Lebanon, the Lebanese people, and the Lebanese state, especially as we witness human rights violations as is happening in Gaza.
Regarding the outcome of the meeting, he stated that “the most important aspect is that the commission handed over complete data related to refugees to the Lebanese General Security.”
He affirmed that “The data is currently being sorted, and the situation of each case is being clarified, including those not registered with the commission.”
