Cabinet gathered at the Grand Serail in Beirut on April 26, 2024. (Credit: Mohammad Yassin)
BEIRUT — Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Friday denounced "a desire to hinder the voluntary return to Syria" of certain "displaced persons" present in Lebanon "on the pretext that there would be no safe zones" in their country, the Grand Serail said in a post on the social media network X. Mikati's comments came at the start of the cabinet meeting, which began shortly after 4 p.m. on Friday.
The cabinet session began with a 36-item agenda. However, of the 36 items on the agenda, only one was approved by the ministers: a credit request from the Ministry of Public Works and Transport to continue construction of a section of the Southern Highway.
Cabinet also issued two decrees at the session. One to ratify the decision taken the previous day by Parliament to extend the terms of office of municipal councils and mukhtars — thereby postponing municipal elections until May 31, 2025 — and one to allow 2,100 Civil Defense volunteers to change their status from volunteers to public-sector employees.
'Our aim is … to protect our country'
On the subject of Syrian nationals present in Lebanon, Mikati said, "There is an impetus to resolve this issue in a way that respects human rights." The caretaker prime minister uses the term "displaced persons" to refer to Syrian nationals present on Lebanese soil. Some of these people are registered with the UN's refugee agency, UNHCR.
"Our aim is absolutely not to expose anyone to danger, but to protect our country and apply the laws that apply to all residents on Lebanese territory," Mikati continued, before denouncing a desire "to hinder the voluntary return" to Syria of certain displaced Syrians present in Lebanon "on the pretext that there would be no safe zones" in their country. "We ask the international community: what is the advantage of turning Lebanon into a safe region for the displaced and not [a] safe [place] for the Lebanese?" he said.
Mikati is due to travel to Brussels on May 27 for a European Union summit on the issue of Syrian refugees. He will attend with the aim of asking the EU to recognize the existence of safe zones in Syria. Numerous associations and NGOs working on Syrian refugee issues say it is not possible to recognize such safe zones at the present time.
The caretaker premier also spoke of organizing a conference in support of the Lebanese Army. "I met [French] President Emmanuel Macron in Paris … the meeting was positive," he said. "The Italians and the French are going to call a conference to support the troops."
Whistle-blowers, education, weapons ...
During the session, the cabinet was due to discuss, but took no decision on, a wide range of agenda items. Among these was a request from the Finance Ministry to amend an article of the 2018 law on the protection of whistleblowers exposing corruption offenses. The article in question concerns the funds disbursed to reward and assist these whistleblowers. Another item dealt with an appropriation request from the National Anti-Corruption Commission.
The ministers were also asked to consider a funding request from the Education Ministry for a plan approved last August, as well as the renewal of contracts for economic attachés in foreign embassies, and a request from the Foreign Ministry concerning a text on discrimination against women.
The agenda also included the creation of a federation of Arkoub municipalities in the Chouf district (Mount Lebanon governorate), as well as one from the Interior Ministry to close down stores selling non-compliant rifles and ammunition. A contract with Middle East Airlines for the training of air traffic controllers at Beirut International Airport (AIB), as well as another request for maintenance work at the airport, were also on the agenda. Finally, the agenda also included a request from the Agriculture Ministry to allow the import of onions and potatoes from Egypt for a defined period.