Rahi: Displaced Syrians, Palestinians Burdening Lebanon
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi said on Friday that displaced Syrians and Palestinians have become a “great burden on Lebanon and must return home,” as he stressed “humanitarian solidarity with their causes.”
“It is our duty as Lebanese to preserve our country and its specifications for the benefit of all of us, and for Lebanon to carry out its mission in its Arab environment,” said Al-Rahi, adding “that is why all the displaced and refugees must return back to their land and country.”
“As for those who have taken refuge in Lebanon from Syria --and amount to more than 1.5 million-- adding to the Palestinians they have become as much as half the number of the Lebanese people. They have become a great burden on Lebanon. Even more they have become a demographic, economic, political, cultural and security threat, and their return back to safe places in Syria has become a necessity,” stressed al-Rahi.
However the Patriarch added that his calls do not mean that Lebanon would abandon its “humanitarian and social solidarity” with the refugees and their cause.
Rahi's remarks came during a pastoral visit in Detroit in the United States.
Source: Naharnet
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