Bassil Urges Unilateral Lebanese Steps to Stop Naturalization: Displacement Feeds Terrorism

Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil warned on Saturday that there are indirect efforts to naturalize Syrian refugees in Lebanon, while warning that terrorism is a product of the refugee crisis.

He urged during a press conference “the adoption of unilateral and sovereign steps, otherwise naturalization will be imposed on us.”

“I know that some politicians have remained silent over this issue for political and sectarian interests.

“Some officials want to naturalize the refugees in order to gain a sectarian upper hand in elections,” he declared.

“Those keen on national unity should help us confront the refugee flow. This is a sign of national unity.”

The minister noted that Lebanon has not received substantial assistance from the international community to help it confront the refugee burden.

“We only received a few loans as if we are being bought. We are not for sale,” Bassil stated.

He also rejected claims that resolving the presidential vacuum will end the refugee crisis. This problem existed prior to 2014, he told reporters.

“We can demonstrate our goodwill to the Syrians by allowing them to go home,” he continued, by noting that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had earlier this week said that there has been a drop in violence in Syria.

“Given this drop, why haven't they started to go back to their country?” asked Bassil.

Furthermore, he noted that the refugees and displaced are a “source of terrorism”, deeming as a “dangerous sign” the international community's “abandonment” of the refugees.

“Displacement causes chaos. The sense of abandonment fuels the need for revenge and eventually terrorism,” he explained.

“We cannot separate terrorism from the displaced. We cannot overlook the consequences of the displacement, which we are witnessing in Europe,” he said in reference to this week's suicide attacks in the Belgian capital Brussels.

Lebanon distinguishes between displacement and terrorism, he said however.

Moreover, the foreign minister noted that European countries have recently started turning back refugees and occasionally resorting to violence to deter them.

“Lebanon has never adopted such measures and it has always been generous towards the displaced, even to those who do not qualify to be labeled as refugees,” he said.

“What have we gotten in return? What have the Lebanese people gotten in return?” he asked, while lamenting the lack of serious efforts to resolve the refugee file.

Lebanon is home to more than 1 million registered Syrian refugees, or nearly a quarter of the country's 4.5 million people. Lebanon says that another half a million Syrians live in the country as well.

United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon concluded on Friday a two-day visit to Lebanon during which he paid a visit to Syrian refugee encampments.

He also held talks with Prime Minister Tammam Salam, assuring him, according to media reports, that there are no efforts to naturalize the displaced.

“Ban's visit to Lebanon, along with all of its mistakes, was a detail in the international perception of the Syrian refugee file,” Bassil said.