Parliamentary session: Much ado about almost nothing

If it hadn’t been broadcast live, yesterday’s general debate in Parliament could have ended in an hour, instead of three and a half. But in front of the cameras, more than 30 MPs spoke from the rostrum of Parliament about Syrian refugees and the migrants’ issue.

The overwhelming majority of them agreed that Lebanon must unite its ranks to resolve the problem of what they called “illegal Syrian presence in Lebanon.” The most important thing to remember from the session is that there is now a sort of unified vision on this issue and the means to resolve it. How? By applying the laws in force.

In essence, this has been Parliament’s recommendation to the caretaker cabinet, in the wake of the controversy over the EU’s €1 billion grant to Lebanon, announced in early May.

Was it necessary to hold a parliamentary meeting to encourage the cabinet to do its duty and enforce the law? Above all, this session confirmed the divide between the political actors over the need to hold talks with Syria on this issue.

But it seems that Parliament didn’t care. It was careful in calling on the Lebanese authorities to “contact the relevant regional and international bodies, in particular the Syrian government.”

This is what has emerged from the recommendation that the Parliament adopted. In broad terms, the nine-point text drafted on the eve of the session called on the cabinet to form a ministerial committee tasked with coordinating its action with the relevant regional and international bodies, “in particular the Syrian government,” to draw up a detailed timetable for the return of refugees and migrants.

In response, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said that the committee is already in place and simply needs to be revived. The text added that “those protected by Lebanese law as well as exceptional cases defined by the committee” will benefit from an exemption, but did not give further details.

The document reiterated Lebanon’s compliance with the MoU the UNHCR signed in 2003 with the General Security Office, and called on the cabinet to have the UN body hand over to the Lebanese authorities all data relating to migrants and refugees and to facilitate their return home.

The document called on the cabinet to enforce the laws governing the entry to and exit from Lebanese territory, as well as residence in the country. It urged the cabinet to take the necessary legal steps to hand over Syrian nationals detained in Lebanon to Syrian authorities.

Also within the framework of dialogue with Damascus, Parliament recommended coordination with “the Syrian side” to limit entry and exit movements to the legal crossings between the two countries.

Given the Lebanese Army’s limited capabilities and other security apparatus, the MPs urged the cabinet to call on the international community to provide aid to the military and security bodies so that they can fulfill their duty in this respect.

Regarding aid for migrants and refugees, Parliament recommended that the cabinet “ask all UN bodies, in particular the UNHCR and European and international donors, to use their incentives to encourage the displaced to return home, through or with the agreement of the Lebanese state and its institutions, and not to allow such aid to be used in a way that gives the impression of an agreement to keep them in Lebanon.”

The same point recommends encouraging these donors to pay their aid inside Syria.

‘The republic of a tailor-made approval’

Drafted on the eve of the session, the text was not met with unanimous approval in Parliament. The Lebanese Forces (LF) opposed it. This is “because it does not include our call for the immediate repatriation of Syrians whose presence in Lebanon is illegal, nor an appeal to the Lebanese delegation that will be present in Brussels [to attend the May 27 conference devoted to the Syrian dossier] to clearly express this position before the international community,” LF MP Ghayath Yazbeck told L’Orient-Le Jour.

This decision is the result of the confusion that accompanied the vote on the text, which is “binding on the cabinet and adopted in its presence,” as per Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri’s “jurisprudence.”

The recommendation was issued after a reading of the two proposals by the LF, initially to be incorporated into the text, which was rushed through.

“We don’t really know what was voted on, because Parliament is the republic of Nabih Berri’s tailor-made approval,” said an opposition MP.

The text, however, seemed to be an overview of all the speeches made during the session. The Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) Leader Gebran Bassil, and Vice-President of the LF Executive Committee Georges Adwan both stressed the need for the return of Syrians who are illegally present in Lebanon. However, the parties do not agree on the form of contact that would be made with Damascus. While the FPM said it favors coordination with the Syrian government, the LF wished to limit such contact to a security level.

During the session, the opposition leaders made no mention of resuming talks with Damascus (unlike their PSP colleagues and those gravitating in the Hezbollah orbit). They did, however, say they were aware that the cabinet would not be able to resolve the problem, “because the camp that controls the cabinet does not want to take a political decision in this direction, to use this issue as blackmail to have the [economic and political] blockade imposed on Syria lifted,” said Kataeb leader Sami Gemayel.

Mikati defends himself

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati was the main beneficiary of the session. Relying once again on his main supporter, Berri, he could “defend himself” after the controversy that the 1 billion euro grant caused. He said this sum “is part of the continuation of aid that Lebanon was granted in the past and that this new aid will be evaluated every six months.”

Above all, Mikati stressed that the EU package “is not subject to any prior or subsequent conditions.” However, he noted that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen “has promised to increase this amount and to carry out European investments in Lebanon as soon as the necessary reforms are adopted.”

Mikati then listed the measures that his team has already taken to deal with refugees and migrants. They include the repatriation of those who are illegally present, border control and the census of Syrians (by municipalities upon the Interior Ministry’s instructions). This is added to the reinforcement of judicial measures taken against individuals involved in human trafficking.

This article was originally published in L'Orient-Le Jour. Translated by Joelle El Khoury.