Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib in Baabda. (Credit: File photo/Dalati and Nohra)
BEIRUT — Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib on Friday said Syria is ready to receive refugees who want to return home. Bou Habib's remarks came in an interview with the Al Jadeed TV channel on the sidelines of the Arab League summit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
"According to Syrian diplomatic chief Faisal Mekdad and, before him, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the official Syrian position is that [refugees] are welcome," the minister said Thursday in Jeddah.
Bou Habib added, however, that the Syrian authorities "cannot force [refugees] to return," adding, "We have [Lebanese] emigrants all over the world; we cannot force them to return to Lebanon."
The minister also addressed the fears expressed by the UN about the safety of Syrians who would return to the country, saying, "If the UN is concerned that they will be tortured, they should send their representatives to observe the situation" in Syria.
"If they return, the important thing is that they are treated as normal citizens. They [Syrian officials] have promised this, and this process will take place under the supervision of the UN," the Lebanese caretaker minister continued.
At the end of April, the Lebanese government called on the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to provide, within a week, all the information it has on Syrian refugees in Lebanon — a demand to which UNHCR has still not responded. The authorities have also strengthened measures taken against refugees.
According to estimates by the Lebanese authorities, more than 2 million Syrians have found refuge in Lebanon since the beginning of the Syrian conflict in 2011. The UN refers to 830,000 Syrian refugees registered with the organization; however, UNHCR stopped registering Syrian refugees in 2015 at the Lebanese government's instruction. The presence of Syrian refugees in the country is perceived by some Lebanese as a major demographic, economic and security issue, particularly in the context of Lebanon's ongoing economic crisis.
Some observers accuse the Syrian regime of not really wanting the return of its citizens who have been refugees in neighboring countries since the beginning of the war, while independent organizations have documented cases of disappearance, torture and forced recruitment into the army by the Syrian government among refugees who have returned to Syria in recent months.
The issue of Syrian refugees in Lebanon is one of the topics the Lebanese delegation, chaired by caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, intends to address at the Arab League summit.
Lebanon has organized, on several occasions, what it describes as "voluntary repatriations" of Syrian refugees. Last April, the Lebanese Army returned more than 50 Syrians to their country in a two-week period.
Syria has been invited to an Arab League summit for the first time since 2011. Earlier this month, the Arab League agreed to fully restore Syria's membership after a 12-year suspension due to the Syrian government's crackdown on protesters. President Assad is expected to attend the summit on Friday and will likely rub shoulders with Arab presidents and kings who have opposed him for years.