Bassil: We Won't Allow Naturalization of Syrians, Palestinians and We'll Defeat IS

إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية W460

Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil stressed Sunday that the Free Patriotic Movement will not tolerate any attempt at granting the Lebanese nationality to Syrian and Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, as he noted that communal coexistence can defeat the extremist ideology of the Islamic State jihadist group.

“We won't facilitate the naturalization of Syrians and Palestinians when real Lebanese are deprived of it -- those Lebanese who emigrated to enable us to remain in our country,” said Bassil in Beit Lahya as he toured the towns of the Rashaya region.

“I warn of a new wave of Lebanese emigration if the Syrian refugee influx into Lebanon does not stop and if the government fails to implement its plan in this regard,” he added.

The minister lamented that “it is not fair when Syrians get their rights in Lebanon while the Lebanese do not get any of their rights in their homeland.”

Bassil has recently announced that since last September, around 50,000 new Syrian refugees have been officially registered in Lebanon, warning that some Lebanese institutions “are not abiding by the decision taken by the cabinet to stop the flow of refugees.”

Lebanon is hosting around 1.5 million Syrian refugees, an enormous strain for a country with a population of just four million. The UNHCR has regularly urged the international community to provide Lebanon with greater assistance to tackle the influx.

Turning to the threat Lebanon is facing from the rise of jihadist groups in the region, Bassil reassured that “through our Lebanese way of thinking, through which Christians and Muslims coexist, we will win against Daesh (IS group).”

“Religious and sectarian extremism is intolerable but we must be extremists regarding our Lebanese identity, because we won't find it anywhere else except in Lebanon,” the minister added.

“Our strength lies in our resilience in the face of the conspiracies that might come from the East or the West,” said Bassil.

He noted, however, that “we must live real partnership, not a fake one,” pointing out that the FPM draws its “legitimacy” from being “truly representative” of popular bases.

Separately, Bassil said there is no reason for the government to exist if it does not manage to “confront the important and crucial issues.”

Y.R.

Comments 9
Default-user-icon achrafieh (Guest) 03 May 2015, 17:31

lebanon should have the same amount of refugees and camps be it syrian and palestinian as much as there are in the whole gulf countries to be fair

Default-user-icon achrafieh (Guest) 03 May 2015, 17:51

let there be in lebanon the same nb of camps paletinian and syrian as many as there are in all the gulf countries
god bless freedom of expression

Missing humble 03 May 2015, 18:40

The "we" comprises his "stupidity" + "corruption" + "incompetence" + "lying"

Missing humble 03 May 2015, 18:41

But they are ready to facilitate Mutelateh...

Thumb kanaanljdid 03 May 2015, 18:55

How do you call a country where natives for 3 or 4 generations are still Stateless people and banned from nationality?

Thumb kanaanljdid 03 May 2015, 20:27

Maybe Southern, but what about those who want to be granted the citizenship of their Lebanese homeland, where their father and grandfather are born ?

Aren't they more Lebanese than the kids born in Europe of Lebanese men living there for decades who are granted citizenship automatically even it they don't speak Lebanese and knows nothing else than Edde Sands beaches ?

Thumb kanaanljdid 03 May 2015, 20:29

Was mainly thinking about Palestinians indeed, but not only (people born in Lebanon from Philippinian parent, etc.)

Default-user-icon + oua nabka + (Guest) 03 May 2015, 18:57

Lebanon should have refugee camps be it Palestinian and Syrian the same number of camps that exists in all gulf countries
god bless democracy

Thumb ice-man 03 May 2015, 21:05

hello @southern FA (Friend Always); how many gold teeth do you have?