Miqati: We Will Reconsider Residency of Any Syrian Not Registered as Refugee
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati noted on Tuesday that Lebanon is greatly affected by the crisis in Syria, saying that it is a priority for Lebanon to confront any dangers caused by the ongoing flow of Syrian refugees into the country.
He revealed: “We will reconsider the residency of any Syrian who is not registered as a refugee in Lebanon.”
“We sympathize with the Syrian tragedy, but our priority lies in protecting Lebanon and its people,” he stressed during the opening of the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue conference.
Moreover, Miqati said that authorities have started implementing measures that will prevent the rise in the number of refugees.
Addressing the failure to form a new government in Lebanon, he remarked: “The Lebanese people are fed up with the political deadlock.”
He demanded that national interests be placed above all else, calling on political powers to return to dialogue and abandon the preconditions they have placed over the formation of a new cabinet.
In addition, he highlighted the need for trust to be restored among the various factions, saying that the deadlock should end.
The United Nations’ refugee agency announced on Saturday that the number of Syrians who have fled their war-torn country and came to Lebanon has reached 779,000.
Including all the unregistered Syrians, the actual number is around 1.3 million or about 30 percent of the Lebanese population, said caretaker Social Affairs Minister Wael Abou Faour recently
Lebanon had repeatedly appealed to the international community to help it ease the burden of the refugees.
An international meeting in New York recently announced $339 million in additional humanitarian aid in response to the Syria crisis, including $74 million for Lebanon to support Syrian refugees.
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