The head of the Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT - The head of the Lebanese Forces (LF), Samir Geagea, on Sunday called on caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi to take all necessary legal measures against the head of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Lebanon, Ivo Freijsen.
Geagea accused the UNHCR official of violating Lebanese sovereignty and interfering with the implementation of Lebanese laws by attempting to obstruct measures taken by Lebanese authorities.
In a statement, Geagea expressed his position, stating, "It is deeply regrettable the extent to which Lebanese legitimacy has been compromised, allowing the head of the UNHCR office in Lebanon to send a letter to the caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi, requesting the halt of so-called inhumane practices and urging the reversal of measures taken against illegal Syrian refugees. It is as if he has become the host and we are his guests."
Geagea further asserted, "We will not accept the actions of the UNHCR chief. This land is ours, this country is ours, and sovereignty here belongs to the Lebanese people and state. He cannot justify his actions with humanitarian considerations, as no people in the world have shown more empathy towards refugees than the Lebanese. Nor can he invoke international considerations, as the memorandum of understanding signed between Lebanon and the UN in 2003 is clear and unambiguous."
In 2003, UNHCR and the Lebanese government signed a memorandum of understanding stating refugees and asylum-seekers will be tolerated, but only for a limited period, pending resettlement or voluntary repatriation.
Geagea continued, "If the UNHCR chief is truly concerned about the conditions of illegal refugees in Lebanon, he should arrange for their transfer to his own country and extend his humanitarian efforts there for the next 13 years, just as the Lebanese have done for the past 13 years."
Geagea insisted that the interior minister should "take all possible legal actions" against the head of the UNHCR office in Lebanon. According to the LF leader, the UNHCR official has "overstepped his legal boundaries" in various ways, such as "distributing refugee cards to Syrians in Lebanon" against the 2003 memorandum, treating "illegal migrants as refugees," and disregarding the "one-year limit stipulated in the memorandum" that mandates their departure.
Geagea added, "The interior minister must also take all necessary legal measures against the UNHCR chief for violating Lebanese sovereignty and interfering in the enforcement of Lebanese laws on Lebanese soil, attempting to obstruct measures implemented by official Lebanese bodies aimed at maintaining security, stability, and the rule of law in Lebanon."
For his part, LF MP George Okais emphasized "the importance of decisiveness regarding the Syrian presence in Lebanon and approaching it from a purely national sovereignty perspective, where we fear no one and do not succumb to the threats of any party."
In an interview on the "Sunday Meeting" program on the Voice of Lebanon radio station, Okais stated, "The decision to deport cannot be objected to by the West."
Addressing Europeans, he said, "Help us pressure Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to organize the return of his people to safe areas."
Okais added that Lebanon should be present in Brussels on May 27 to make its voice heard on this issue, revealing that members of his parliamentary bloc, "The Strong Republic" would be taking part in meetings on the sidelines of the ministerial conference organized to address the Syrian issue, in order to "present the situation from the point of view of the Lebanese parliamentary opposition, should the government delegation fail to do so." He also called on the diaspora to organize demonstrations in European countries to reflect the concerns of the Lebanese people regarding the crisis of displaced Syrians in their country.
The Syrian refugee issue regained prominence in Lebanese politics after the EU announced a €1 billion aid package for Lebanon in early May to combat illegal immigration. Some have described this aid as a bribe to keep Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
The EU's announcement was made against a backdrop of renewed hostility among the population towards Syrian migrants and refugees in Lebanon, following in particular the killing in April of LF official Pascal Sleiman by what the Lebanese Army has described as a gang of Syrian nationals. Since then, the Lebanese authorities have launched a series of measures to restrict the presence of Syrians in the country and to allow illegal migrants to be deported.