06/23/2022, 11.49
LEBANON
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Beirut: burden of Syrian refugees is 'unbearable', they must be repatriated

by Fady Noun

Lebanese PM Mikati issues a warning to the international community (and the West) for a return of refugees. Estimates speak of 1.5 million, a portion may return to pacified Syria. Their presence risks causing a demographic imbalance and upsetting the "covenant of common life." 

Beirut (AsiaNews) - After the head of the Maronite Church, Lebanon's Prime Minister Nagib Mikati has also raised the issue of "displaced Syrians" (that's the official term) dossier, saying their burden has become "unbearable" for the country. The "sibylline phrase" uttered by the premier in the presence of Najat Rochdi, UN coordinator of humanitarian aid in Lebanon, created the event. "I appeal to the international community," he said, "to commit to helping Lebanon so that displaced Syrians can return to their country. Otherwise, Lebanon will end up in a position that is undesirable by Western chancelleries, namely the expulsion of Syrians from Lebanon itself." 

Known for being flexible and diplomatic, Mikati has decided to take the international community head-on, in response to a stubborn attitude and deaf ears to the demands made by Lebanon. After all, while the leadership of the Cedar Country has long insisted on the negative impact of the presence of a million (some estimates speak of 1.5 million) Syrian refugees on the nation's life, believing that there is a large part of the so-called "useful Syria" that is now (relatively) calm and there are conditions for their worthy return, Westerners continue to invoke the lack of security in Syria. And that is why a return of them with proper guarantees is by no means certain, particularly for those who have opposed the regime, some of whom have already ended up in government prisons.

Recently, there has even been talk of a new international requirement: ensuring that once in Syria, refugees are not forced to perform military service.

At the international conference on refugees, held in Brussels on May 9 and 10, Lebanon through the mouth of Social Affairs Minister Hector Hajjar expressed its resentment at the international community's opposition to any proposal to repatriate Syrian refugees. The Lebanese authorities, which had compiled a comprehensive dossier to show how burdensome the refugees' presence has become, have not gotten any green light to the idea of encouraging those among the Syrians "who are willing or able" to return to their homes. One of the reasons for this resistance, they explain, is that Syrian refugees in Lebanon receive help from the international community, which would eventually fail in the case of repatriation.

Lebanon's frustration is all the greater because, in support of its claim, it also presented a map regarding the presence of displaced Syrians on its territory, which showed that the risks of friction, security disturbances and social tensions have increased. At the same time, Lebanese authorities have argued that the services enjoyed by the IDF, particularly the internal security departments, are demotivating when compared to the difficult missions entrusted to them. In power circles quoted in the press, it is customary to say that a virtue must be made of necessity and that, threatened in its social stability and security, the Cedar Country has no choice but to act even if this might entail accusations of "racism" or "selfishness."

To begin with, the well-informed sources explain, Lebanon is considering the strict application of the refugee law according to which, legally speaking, "these are people who, for various reasons, leave their nation and cannot return." However, the same sources add, many Syrians who fall under this status in Lebanon actually visit Syria regularly and return there without particular concern. That is why the government authorities in Beirut could start from this very area, deciding not to let them return to their own territory.

Moreover, while not saying so openly, Lebanon also fears the weight of the Syrian presence on the demographic and confessional balances of its population, which are based on the relative equality between the main communities, Christian and Muslim. However, each year, according to official data, there are 20mia births among Syrians in Lebanon - moreover, the vast majority of displaced Syrians are Sunnis - which must be put in relation to the migration flow of Lebanese that started in 2018. An exodus to foreign countries that mainly concerns university graduates and has progressed from 200,000 between 2018 and 2021 to the 40,000 already registered in the first half of this year.

This imbalance has already been remarked by the Maronite primate, Card. Beshara Raï, during the just-concluded annual synod of the Maronite Church (June 11-18, 2022). The patriarch denounced the "integration, installation and naturalization" projects fueled by some Western nations, believing that this would serve Lebanon's "independence, stability and unity." And he recalled "the covenant of common life that functions as its foundation" when he referred to the relative percentage between Christians and Muslims in Lebanon.

Finally, the patriarch called on the Lebanese state to negotiate with the Palestinian Authority, the Arab League, the United Nations and major powers on the "redistribution" of Palestinian refugees to countries that can absorb them demographically, urging displaced Syrians to "return home."

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