Lebanon Will Become Syrian Refugees’ Transit Stage into Europe: Report

USA ordered most of the world countries to dispatch terrorists in order to fight the safe civilians and army soldiers in Syria in 2011. Since the military war failed to subdue Syria, the operators in Washington escalated the pressures by passing a law that bans any economic cooperation with Damascus.

As a result of around 13 years of a terrorist war and an economic siege, the Syrian people suffered harsh living conditions deteriorating on a daily basis.

The Syrian laymen found themselves obliged to search for a source of an acceptable income even it costs them to take the risk of crossing the borders illegally and dangerously (via illegitimate boats).

Lebanon, Turkey, and Jordan were their main destination before they moved into Europe and other continents.

In the case of Lebanon, the situation was very dramatic since it has been suffering from an unprecedented socioeconomic situation in addition to fragile infrastructure and public services.

Around 2 million Syrian refugees in the 10452-square-kilometer small country with a population of 4 millions makes the Lebanese situation harsher.as the percentage of the Syrian refugees out of the total population is expected to be much higher during the upcoming years.

Thus, the overburdened nation finds itself obliged to seek a solution for this dilemma as the US administration and the European Union have rejected all the proposals to let the refugees back to their homeland.

The Lebanese caretaker government held last Monday a session to discuss the Syrian refugees crisis, assigning the foreign minister, Abdullah Abou Habib, to lead an official delegation to Syria to discuss the issue of the displaced.

After the session, the Minister of Culture Mohammad Al-Mortada published via X platform a post that explains the decisions of the Lebanese government, indicating that Lebanon has got fed up with the NGOs preventing the return of the Syrian refugees.

Al-Mortada warned that such organization would be dissolved, hinting that Lebanon would not be able to prevent boats carrying the Syrian refugees into Europe.

لمن لم يفهم من “المجتمع الدولي”ما تقرّر في جلسة اليوم، خذْ علماً بالاهمّ: ١- اليوم جرى انذار ادواتكم، اي “المنظّمات غير الحكومية” ان لبنان طفح كيله منهم ولن يرضى ان يستمر ارضاً مستباحةً من قبلهم وان عليهم ان يخضعوا للتنسيق والرقابة وإلاّ سيجري سحب العلم والخبر وحلّهم….عجّل… pic.twitter.com/qoeqxSP10S

— القاضي محمد وسام المرتضى وزير الثقافة (@JugeMMourtada) September 11, 2023

Two days later, Abou Habib contacted his Syrian counterpart, Faisal Mekdad. They agreed to hold a meeting between them shortly upon Minister Bou Habib’s return from New York, where he will participate alongside Premier Najib Mikati in the work of the United Nations General Assembly, and will meet there with the Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister, who will represent his country in UN meetings.

Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdallah Bou Habib (photo from archive).

The Syrian Foreign Minister welcomed the visit of Minister Bou Habib and the accompanying delegation to Damascus, expressing his readiness for all cooperation that falls in the interest of the two countries.

The Lebanese Minister of Social Affairs Hector Hajjar told Al-Manar that Europe will recognize that Lebanon will be the transit stage of the Syrian refugees, adding that Lebanon will not be able to provide the displaced with the suitable living conditions.

Hajjar pointed out that the European states, mainly Cyprus, have notified the Lebanese authorities about their worries pertaining the flock of Syrian refugees into Europe illegally by sea or legally through airports.

Lebanese caretaker social affairs minister Hector Hajjar

In this context, the national campaign for the return of the Syrian refugees visited on Monday the headquarters of the Loyalty to Resistance parliamentary bloc in Haret Hreik, meeting with MP Ibrahim Moussawi and Head of Hezbollah’s Syrian Refugees File, Nawwar Al-Sehali, to discuss a related draft law planned to be submitted to the parliament.

MP Moussawi told the delegation that Hezbollah bloc supports the draft law and recognizes the hazardous situation caused by the Syrian refugees crisis, calling on the competent authorities to assume their duties in this regard.