Govt. Unanimously Rejects Refugee 'Naturalization', to Seek 'Clarifications' on Ban's Remarks

The council of ministers announced Thursday that it unanimously rejects any attempt to naturalize Syrian refugees in Lebanon, after remarks attributed to U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon stirred a storm of criticism in the country.

“The cabinet reaffirmed the Lebanese consensus on rejecting naturalization and any policies that encourage the refugees to stay where they are, seeing as the only solution to the refugee crisis is the Syrians' speedy return to their country, which contradicts with the principles of voluntary return, integration and naturalization,” said the cabinet in a statement issued after its weekly session at the Grand Serail.

The cabinet also agreed to “conduct the necessary contacts” and “demand clarifications regarding Ban Ki-moon's remarks on the naturalization of refugees.”

Media reports meanwhile quoted the U.N. chief's official spokesperson as saying that the naturalization of Syrian refugees in Lebanon is not on the table and that efforts to resettle some of them outside Lebanon are still underway.

According to An Nahar newspaper, Ban Ki-moon had said in a report he submitted to the Vienna conference on Syria that refugees have the right to obtain the nationalities of the countries they live in.

Ban Ki-moon's reported remarks had prompted an urgent meeting for the Lebanese government's Syrian refugee cell which comprises Prime Minister Tammam Salam, Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil, Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq, Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas and Labor Minister Sejaan Qazzi.

In a statement before the cabinet session, Qazzi said: "Ever since 1948, no international official has dared to raise the issue of naturalizing the Palestinians, so how could Ban Ki-moon mention the naturalization of Syrians seven times in a 26-page report?"

Five years into the Syria conflict, Lebanon hosts more than one million refugees from the war-torn country, according to the United Nations.

More than a third live in the Bekaa valley near the Syrian border.

Y.R.