A delegation from the Free Patriotic Movement meeting with caretaker Education Minister Abbas Halabi in Beirut on Sept. 17, 2024. (Photo provided by the FPM press office)
The caretaker government is scheduled to meet on Tuesday afternoon to "reconsider" a decision it made last Wednesday that allows the Ministry of Education to issue certificates to Syrian students who have passed the official technical baccalaureate exams in Lebanon. A move that allowed the director of technical education at the ministry, Hanadi Berri, to issue a decision authorizing Syrian students without official documents (provided by the Lebanese General Security) to register for the 2024-2025 school year.
In the summons sent to the ministers for the meeting at the Grand Serail scheduled for 3:30 p.m., the Secretary General of the Council, Mahmoud Makkieh, said that the caretaker government is invited to "re-study decision no. 63 of Sept. 11, 2024" as well as continue the examination of the preliminary draft of the 2025 budget.
The government's decision is theoretically an official Lebanese response to the country's international obligations. But it quickly provoked a series of criticisms, notably from Christian parties, who denounced a decision that would facilitate the "settlement" of Syrians in Lebanon.
'Schools in Syria are accessible'
Reacting once again to the controversy, the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), a delegation that visited the caretaker education minister, Abbas Halabi, this morning, said in a statement that it had discussed "the dangers" of implementing this decision No. 63. The FPM delegation insisted to Halabi "on the need to cancel" this decision, which is "illegal." MP Cesar Abi Khalil also stated after the meeting that he "demanded more rigor regarding the registration of Syrian children" in Lebanese schools and the importance of them holding "the required documents, either to regularize their status and their presence in Lebanon by obtaining legal residence permits or for their return to Syria."
He argued, as do the Lebanese parties and officials pushing for the return of migrants and refugees to Syria, that "90 percent of Syrian territory is now secure and schools in Syria are accessible." Abi Khalil said he had perceived the minister's "cooperation."
The latest report by the U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Syria released on Sept. 10 said fighting in Syria has intensified, plunging residents into the worst humanitarian conditions since the start of the civil war more than 13 years ago.
The head of the Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea, posted on X that the decision of the government also motivated "Syrian students residing in Syria, Jordan, Turkey and everywhere else in the world to enroll in official and technical Lebanese institutions."
"This decision violates all laws and sovereignty and represents an extreme danger for the Lebanese identity," he wrote, denouncing "the scandal of the century."
This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.