Naharnet

Syrian Embassy Slams 'Abuse of Syrian Workers', Hails Aoun Stance

The Syrian Embassy in Beirut on Wednesday deplored alleged abuse of Syrian workers in Lebanon and hailed President Michel Aoun's latest call for avoiding incitement against Syrian refugees.

“Media outlets have recently reported that Syrian citizens working in Lebanon have faced abuse and inappropriate practices that reached the extent of forced labor,” the embassy said in a statement.

“As the embassy deems this a violation of values, norms and the ties of brotherhood that bind the two brotherly peoples, it urges everyone to shun exaggeration and the sowing of discord, because such a behavior would harm everyone,” it added.

And hailing Aoun's latest remarks and “his call for avoiding incitement against Syrian refugees,” the embassy reassured that “it has followed up on the issue with the relevant authorities” and that it has “received cooperation and responsiveness.”

“The embassy emphasizes that it constantly follows up on the affairs of its citizens and that it spares no effort to preserve the dignity of Syrian citizens and their rights, while preserving the brotherly ties between the two peoples and two states,” it added.

The embassy's statement comes a day after a video emerged of Lebanese young men abusing and shouting xenophobic insults at a young Syrian man.

The video, which has sparked outrage on social networking websites, shows the Lebanese men kicking the Syrian man as he sobs and cowers on the ground. They also ask him to curse his country, the jihadist Islamic State group and to repeat slogans supportive of President Michel Aoun, the Lebanese army and Army chief General Joseph Aoun.

The incident comes amid high Lebanese-Syrian tensions in the country sparked by a debate on returning Syrian refugees to Syria and an army raid on Syrian refugee encampments in the Arsal region in which around 350 Syrians were arrested.


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