On Thursday, MPs of the Strong Republic Bloc (Lebanese Forces) presented a memorandum to the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Beirut, emphasizing that “Lebanon is not a country of asylum, but a transit country,” citing the massive Syrian presence in Lebanon.
During a meeting with the UNHCR representative, Ivo Friesen, at the UNHCR headquarters in Jnah, the MPs provided a detailed overview of the Lebanese Forces’ (FL) stance regarding the issue of the illegal Syrian presence in Lebanon.
They called on the UNHCR to end all practices contradictory to the 2003 agreement protocol signed with Lebanon, especially any attempt at keeping Syrians in Lebanon illegally, in violation of the country’s laws.
In fact, the agreement protocol established in 2003 between the General Security and the UNHCR is based on the principle that Lebanon is not a permanent country of asylum. The UNHCR is tasked with resettling refugees in third countries within a period of six months, with the option of a single exceptional renewal.
Following the meeting, MP Pierre Bou Assi stated that they had discussed “a more pressing issue, namely the fate of Lebanon, its future, and the existence of the Lebanese nation in light of the massive presence of migrants,” whose numbers are equivalent to half of Lebanon’s population.
Bou Assi asserted that it was time for Lebanon to take control of its future, “through a purely Lebanese sovereign decision.” He emphasized that the fate of the country should not be determined “by donors, UN organizations, displaced persons, and especially not by the Syrian regime, which is the root cause of this crisis.”
In this context, he reiterated that the LF had previously called for an end to the financing of Syrian refugees.
