BEIRUT: Lebanese people remain divided over Syria’s return to the Arab League following a 12-year suspension.
Foreign ministers from Arab League member states on Sunday agreed to reinstate Syria’s membership and called for a resolution of issues resulting from the country’s civil war, including the flight of refugees to neighboring countries.
However, many Lebanese fear that the decision will do little to encourage Syrian refugees in Lebanon to return to their homeland.
Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi said during Sunday’s Mass that the growing number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon has become a “heavy burden” on the country, economically, socially, demographically and regarding security.
Al-Rahi expressed doubts about the intentions of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and called on the agency “to cooperate with the Lebanese ministerial committee by providing it with the necessary information about Syrian refugees registered with the agency in Lebanon.”
The patriarch asked: “Is there an intention behind the international community’s stance to settle Syrian refugees in Lebanon?
“Do they not prefer the return (of Syrian refugees) to Syria for fear that they may migrate to their countries? How can Lebanon, burdened as it is, bear the addition of 2,800,000 Syrian refugees and 300,000 Palestinian refugees?”
The patriarch called on “the international community to provide assistance to Syrian refugees on Syrian soil.”
In the first comment by a Lebanese official on the Arab foreign ministers’ decision, Abbas Hajj Hassan, the agriculture minister in the caretaker government representing the Hezbollah-Amal alliance, said: “The return of Syria to the Arab League is the return of all Arabs to an active role in the region and on the international stage.”
The Grand Jaafari Mufti, Sheikh Ahmed Qabalan, accused Europe and Washington of attempting to displace Lebanese people by settling Syrian refugees in the country.
