U.N. Envoy not Enthusiastic about Return of Lebanon's Syrians to Safe Zones
U.N. humanitarian chief Stephen O'Brien has dampened expectations by Lebanese officials to allow a large number of Syrian refugees to return home and settle in safe zones.
“It is useless to discuss about safe zones in Syria unless there is a clear intention to guarantee the security of those willing to return to these areas,” O'Brien told An Nahar daily in an interview published on Wednesday.
He spoke to the newspaper before he left Beirut where he held talks with Prime Minister Tammam Salam and Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas.
The envoy said he “agreed” with Salam and Derbas that “there is no need to delude (the people) about safe zones” in Syria.
Earlier this month, Derbas said that Lebanon should benefit from a decision by al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front in Syria to withdraw from areas along the border with Turkey.
Turkey and the U.S. have agreed on the outlines of a plan to create an Islamic State-free zone along the border.
Al-Nusra Front said its decision was being taken to avoid cooperating with the U.S.-Turkish plan to create the zone.
Derbas said that Lebanon should negotiate with Turkey and the U.S. so that hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees return to these areas.
Lebanon is hosting around 1.5 million Syrian refugees.
In the interview, O'Brien denied that he discussed with the Lebanese officials the possible naturalization of Syrian refugees.
“We haven't made such discussions and I believe that these fears are not valid,” he said.
Last month, Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil accused the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees of sparking a rise in the number of displaced Syrians in Lebanon.
He said some of its practices could lead to the naturalization of newborn Syrians.
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