Acting General Security Director Elias Bayssari (right), interviewed by journalist Marcel Ghanem on MTV, Oct. 5, 2023. (Screenshot MTV)
BEIRUT — Lebanon's acting General Security director appeared Thursday night to issue a vague threat that the powerful security apparatus could refuse to renew foreign UNHCR employees' residency permits, amid a dispute over the UN agency not handing over data about Syrian refugees.
The comments came during a live broadcast on MTV, after journalist Marcel Ghanem asked what General Security acting director Elias Bayssari "can do" if UNHCR failed to hand over the data.
"These [UNHCR employees] are foreigners. Their case falls within the remit of General Security. We're the ones who give them their residence permits," Bayssari responded. "We'll know what to do, don't worry. This land is ours."
Bayssari also claimed that "42 percent of residents in Lebanon are Syrians" and that their total number in the country exceeds two million, comments that come amid rising anti-Syrian sentiment and a legal crackdown.
Lebanon claims to host more 1.5 million displaced Syrians, the highest number of refugees per capita in the world. Some 800,000 of them are registered with UNHCR, though the Lebanese government requested that UNHCR stop registering new refugees in 2015, meaning the actual number is much higher.
Rabih Haber, CEO of Statistics Lebanon, has stated that the total number of Syrians registered is 2,048,713, a figure that includes refugees, legal residents and people who crossed into Lebanon informally.
A month of delay
On Aug. 9, caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib announced that Lebanon had "reached an agreement with the UNHCR concerning the transmission of data relating to all Syrian refugees present on Lebanese territory."
"We agreed with UNHCR that the data would be delivered within three months. Two months have already passed," Bayssari said. This gives the UNHCR one month to deliver the data.
Bayssari asserted that the Syrian authorities "are in favor of not preventing the return of any Syrian to their country," while many experts believe that Bashar al-Assad's regime is opposed to the return of refugees, the majority of whom are Sunni.
The General Security director also said that, despite rumors, he had not visited Syria last week but was "coordinating with the authorities to settle border disputes" between the two countries.
On Thursday, caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi launched a crackdown on Syrian migrants, including those driving certain vehicles without licenses. In the evening, a major brawl broke out between Lebanese and Syrian nationals in the Doura area at the northern entrance to Beirut.
