Three ministers visit North Lebanon to inspect Syrian repatriation efforts

NORTH LEBANON — Defense Minister Michel Menassa arrived Wednesday morning by helicopter at the Qleiaat military base in North Lebanon, accompanied by Interior Minister Ahmad Hajjar and Transport Minister Fayez Rasamny, for a border inspection, according to our regional correspondent.

They were accompanied by General Security Director General Hassan Choucair, Army Chief of Staff Hassan Audeh, and Secretary General of the Supreme Defense Council Mohammad Moustapha.

The first stop on the ministers’ tour was the Arida border post in Akkar, between Lebanon and Syria, followed by Abboudieh, in order to check the conditions for crossing between the two countries. The ministers also visited the border guards' command center in Shadra. The main objective was to inquire about the measures taken for the return of displaced Syrians from Lebanon to their country.

Menassa listened to the officers in charge of the borders, stressing "the need to facilitate measures taken against the displaced without contravening legal and security standards, while respecting humanitarian criteria." He also insisted on "the importance of ongoing coordination between the army, security forces and the relevant agencies to ensure the organized return of the displaced."

The defense minister emphasized that the tour is part of the "follow-up on this issue, with the aim of assessing needs and addressing possible obstacles for the proper implementation of the decisions taken."

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UN says over 200,000 Syrian refugees return from Lebanon

Since the start of the civil war in Syria in 2011, Lebanon has hosted nearly a million and a half Syrian refugees according to authorities, and nearly two million according to other sources. The return of these displaced persons has been a priority since the regime change in Damascus last December. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) recently said that nearly 200,000 refugees have already returned home.

No MP from Akkar accompanied the ministers on their tour. Several of them, contacted by our correspondent, said they "had not been informed of this surprise tour," apparently for security reasons.

Reporting by our regional correspondent Michel Hallak.