Debate on Syrian refugees politically motivated, says Salam
Bassil warned last week of a conspiracy to naturalise refugees and called on Lebanese to take matters into their own hands
Beirut: Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam has dismissed rumours surrounding the naturalisation of Syrian refugees in the Lebanon as “baseless”.
His remarks come at the same time presidential hopeful and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun voiced gave an interview with the Lebanese daily Al Safir, warning of an international conspiracy.
“The international community and the United Nations are addressing the issue of displaced Syrians in a dubious and suspicious manner. It makes us believe that there are intentions to impose naturalisation on us as a fait accompli.” “They kept telling us that naturalising the Palestinians in Lebanon is only a scarecrow until their presence after tens of years became a rooted reality,” Aoun was quoted as saying.
“No one told us how they were going to return to their homeland, and now I am afraid that our land might be stolen in front of our own eyes to be used in solving the crises of others at Lebanon’s expense,” he concluded.
“The possibility of naturalisation is an illusion,” Salam said, adding that the issue was being exploited by Lebanese politicians for political gain.
“Some sides are exploiting this issue for political and sectarian purposes among Christians as if the parliamentary elections will be held tomorrow,” he remarked.
“If someone is sad that he has not been able to play a certain role, then this is not the way to make up for the shortcomings,” Salam said in an indirect reference to Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil.
The issue gained traction last week when Bassil warned of conspiracy to naturalise Syrians in Lebanon and told citizens to take the matter into their own hands to contain the “problem”.
The foreign minister also refused to meet with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon when he visited Lebanon last week.
“The UN is not a colonial empire. Ban’s term will end in six months and I did not hear anything suspicious from him during his trip,” Salam said.
“On the contrary, what he proposed serves Lebanon and helps it shoulder the burden of refugees,” he added.
“Why should we risk squandering this support through internal political debates. We will only incur more damage and harm this way. We will only be shooting ourselves in the foot.”
Lebanon is home to more than 1 million registered Syrian refugees, or nearly a quarter of the country’s 4.5 million people. Lebanese officials say that another half a million Syrians live in the country as well.
