In the past two weeks, the Lebanese army has stepped up its operations in the country to arrest hundreds and deport dozens of Syrians who are in the country illegally, or whose residence permits have expired.
Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati demanded on Wednesday from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to submit to his country’s authorities all the data it has on Syrian refugees within a week, as the discomfort for them it intensifies in the country.
The demand came after a wide-ranging cabinet meeting chaired by Mr. Mikati with the participation of the chief of the national defense general staff, the head of the internal security service and other officials.
In the statement released after the meeting, Mr. Mikati requested that the UNHCR hand over all the data it has on Syrian refugees to the Ministry of Interior.
According to the text, it was also decided that any Syrian national who leaves Lebanese territory will henceforth be deprived of refugee status.
In the past two weeks, the Lebanese army has stepped up its operations in the country to arrest hundreds and deport dozens of Syrians who are in the country illegally, or whose residence permits have expired.
Lebanon had hosted a large number of refugees who fled neighboring Syria due to the war that broke out in 2011, but moods have changed drastically recently, as officials consider the country now relatively safe and therefore able to return to their homeland.
The economic crisis in which Lebanon has been immersed since 2019 has worsened the situation.
In the announcement made public yesterday, other countries are invited to share “the burden of the Syrian refugees (…) especially in the midst of the worsening economic crisis” in Lebanon.
According to Lisa Abu Khaled, the UNHCR representative in Lebanon, the country hosts 1.5 million refugees from Syria, but only 800,000 of them have been officially registered by the UNHCR.
Syria’s highly complex war, which erupted in 2011 following a crackdown on anti-government protests, has killed around half a million people and displaced 13 million others, many within the country, while millions more have sought refuge in neighboring countries such as Lebanon, the Turkey and Jordan or in Europe.
Source :Skai
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