2023-10-04 23:53:33
The government campaign is escalating against the Syrian displacement in Lebanon
The recent Lebanese government measures and political positions reflected a Lebanese mobilization to confront the issue of displaced Syrians, in which various political parties and officials from various political forces became involved.
With the internal pressure exerted by the political parties demanding work to begin returning Syrians to their country in exchange for the rejection of the international community, which believes that this return is not safe yet, and with the strict measures taken by the army on the border to prevent the illegal entry of Syrians into Lebanon, the official Lebanese institutions began Practical steps announced by the Minister of Interior, Bassam Mawlawi, by giving the green light to municipalities “to limit the illegal presence of displaced persons under penalty of accountability,” in conjunction with the Ministry of Industry’s warning against employing Syrian workers who do not have legal papers.
Molloy
Minister of Interior Bassam Mawlawi (National Agency)
In a press conference after a meeting with governors and mayors, Mawlawi announced that “a large number of diverse and major crimes are committed by Syrians in Lebanon, which exceed 30 percent,” stressing that “this issue calls for cooperation to preserve our environment and the image and identity of our country.” He added: “We will not accept any aid aimed at overlooking the presence of any illegal Syrian in Lebanon, and we will not accept the invasion of our country and changing its demographics in exchange for money… Lebanon is not for sale.”
The Minister of the Interior asked notaries “not to organize any contracts for Syrians who do not have legal papers, and just as the law applies to the Lebanese, it will be applied to the Syrians.”
He talked about the measures that will be worked on by the municipalities, including limiting the number of Syrians in housing units and not allowing more than one family to be in them, stressing that “we will not allow the random presence of Syrians.”
He declared that Lebanon’s demand “is not to regulate the Syrian presence, but rather to limit the Syrian presence, and we will not accept that Syrian action remains unchecked in all sectors in Lebanon.” Minister Mawlawi pointed out that “a large number of diverse and major crimes are committed by Syrians in Lebanon at a rate exceeding 30 percent, including the crimes of robbery, pickpocketing, car theft, kidnapping, murder, drugs, shooting, people smuggling, counterfeit currency, sexual harassment, prostitution, and human trafficking,” adding: “This issue calls for… Cooperation to preserve our environment and the image and identity of our country.”
He announced the existence of a work cell in the Ministry of the Interior that is “permanent and ongoing to confront the enormous damage being caused to Lebanon, the Lebanese demography, the shape of Lebanon, Lebanon’s identity, and its future as a result of the Syrian presence.”
UNHCR
The government measures coincided with a political escalation that affected, this time, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, as Lebanese Forces MP Ghiyath Yazbek announced that he was going to sign a parliamentary petition demanding the closure of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Beirut, “because it has become a high commission for marketing the new Syrian occupation.” According to his description.
Yazbek indicated, in a statement to Asharq Al-Awsat, that “as part of the series of moves that the bloc will take, the preparation of a petition by (the forces) or with the participation of the sovereign powers and whoever of the representatives they wish, especially since the demand for the return of refugees has become a national demand and has been talked about.” Finally (Hezbollah) as well,” noting that “pressure will be on more than one side, and it is a move to activate the government’s work on this issue, and towards the League of Arab States, the European Union, the United States of America, and all international institutions concerned with refugee affairs.”
Parliament
The refugee file was also the focus of a session of the Parliamentary Foreign and Expatriates Affairs Committee. Its head, MP Fadi Alama, said that he discussed the problem of illegal crossing, the role of smugglers, and how to deal with them, speaking of “the slowness and defect in dealing with this problem.”
After Foreign Minister Abdullah Bu Habib announced that an agreement had been reached with the UNHCR to hand over the displaced “data,” Alama pointed out that the issue “is still in the technical framework,” and added: “There are certain conditions set by the UNHCR, in the hope that (the data) will be ) In the custody of Public Security next week.
Regarding the communication of the ministerial committee that was formed to work on the issue of the displaced with the Syrian authorities, Alama said: “The date of the meeting between the Syrian Foreign Minister and those concerned with the issue of displacement will be after the Foreign Minister’s return from America.”
Warning security forces
As campaigns to confront the illegal entry of Syrians into Lebanon continue, the Internal Security Forces have warned of mafias exploiting Syrians and misleading them into believing that they can secure their travel to Europe.
The Security Forces Directorate spoke of “kidnapping operations targeting Syrian people residing on Lebanese territory by gangs luring them outside the Lebanese borders through fake accounts on social media sites, so that they are led to believe that they can secure their travel from Lebanon to European countries, either by smuggling them in illegal ways.” Legally, or by securing visas to travel abroad in exchange for financial compensation.”
The security forces pointed out, in the statement, that “the victims are kidnapped upon their arrival to the border areas, then transported outside the Lebanese border, and detained inside rooms within Syrian territory located close to the border, where they are brutally tortured, the torture operations are photographed, and the pictures are sent.” And the videos to the family of the kidnapped person with the aim of pressuring them and rushing to pay a financial ransom in exchange for his release. The Internal Security Forces announced that they had previously arrested, on various dates, members of networks and gangs carrying out such operations, which have recently reappeared.
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