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REFUGEES

'Door open for Syrian refugees to return,' minister tells Lebanese counterpart in Damascus

'Door open for Syrian refugees to return,' minister tells Lebanese counterpart in Damascus

The Maasna border crossing between Lebanon and Syria. (Credit: NNA)

BEIRUT — "The doors are open for a return of Syrian refugees," a Syrian minister told his Lebanese counterpart, Minister for Displaced Persons Issam Charafeddine, on Monday, during a visit by the latter to Damascus to discuss this thorny issue.

Here's what we know: 

    • Under a new plan, Lebanon wants 15,000 Syrian refugees to return home each month. The plan, however, has not been endorsed by the UN, which still fears for the safety of these refugees who fled the civil war that broke out in 2011 following protests against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

    • Arriving in Damascus at the head of a delegation, Charafeddine was received by several Syrian officials, including the country's foreign minister, according to the Lebanese news site el-Nashra.

    • "The doors are wide open for a return of Syrian refugees, and the state is ready to provide them with everything they need, starting with transportation, medical care, education, as well as reception centers for those whose homes have been destroyed," Syrian Minister of Local Administration and Environment Hussein Makhlouf said during talks with Charafeddine. He explained that these services will be provided in the "areas that will be liberated by the Syrian Arab Army." "These efforts have already resulted in the return of a large number of displaced people," he said, adding, "God willing, our joint efforts [with Lebanon] will allow the return of all displaced Syrians." 

    • Two and a half months before the end of the mandate of Lebanese President Michel Aoun, the issue of the return of Syrian refugees is back in the Lebanese spotlight. Launched last July, a plan to repatriate 15,000 Syrians every month is being officially considered, despite criticism from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which had assured that it was not involved in any negotiations or plans to repatriate refugees en masse from Lebanon to Syria. The UNHCR's refusal to cooperate was criticized on Wednesday by Hector Hajjar, a minister close to the head of state who is part of the ministerial committee in charge of following up on the issue.

    • Announced and discussed in the media by the minister for displaced persons, the plan calls for the monthly return of refugees to their places of origin. According to the plan, Damascus will reserve the right to decide on the priority cities. Charafeddine last visited the Syrian capital in February.

    • Lebanon regularly calls for the repatriation of more than 1 million Syrian refugees, who have cost Lebanon "more than $33 billion" since the beginning of the war in Syria, according to the Lebanese government. Moreover, the authorities are blaming part of the country's economic collapse on these Syrian refugees on Lebanese soil, where there is a rise in hostile rhetoric and calls to expel them.

BEIRUT — "The doors are open for a return of Syrian refugees," a Syrian minister told his Lebanese counterpart, Minister for Displaced Persons Issam Charafeddine, on Monday, during a visit by the latter to Damascus to discuss this thorny issue. Here's what we know:     • Under a new plan, Lebanon wants 15,000 Syrian refugees to return home each month. The plan, however, has not...