Naharnet

Bou Assi Hits Back at Bassil over Syrian Refugee Influx

Caretaker Social Affairs Minister Pierre Bou Assi on Tuesday snapped back at caretaker Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil over the issue of the Syrian refugee crisis.

“What did the Free Patriotic Movement do during its presence in the government to prevent the increase in the refugee numbers?” Bou Assi said at a press conference he held to respond to accusations by Bassil and other FPM officials.

Slamming a “vehement campaign” against his ministry, Bou Assi noted that the LF “conducted its electoral campaign without attacking anyone.”

“The second campaign was during the Brussels conference and the objective was not to unveil the truth,” the minister added, accusing Bassil of keeping other Lebanese ministers in the dark regarding a U.N.-EU statement that stirred controversy in Lebanon in order to “use it later” against the LF.

“The only one who was aware of it was Jebran Bassil,” Bou Assi said.

He added: “When the Syrian refugee influx started, the LF was not in the government, whereas the FPM had ten ministers.”

“What did you do to prevent the refugees from reaching the 1.5 million mark?” Bou Assi went on to say.

The minister also emphasized that the LF has a “clear stance” on the issue of refugees.

“Syrian refugees must return home without waiting for a political solution, because there is no solution looming in the horizon,” Bou Assi said, adding that “there are safe areas bigger than Lebanon” in Syria and that “we must seek to repatriate them to those areas.”


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