Lebanon’s Minister for the Displaced Moeen al-Merehbi called on “Hezbollah” to withdraw from Syria and hand over territories under its control to the United Nations in order to facilitate the return of the displaced.
Merehbi noted that according to his ministry’s data, “95% of the displaced in Lebanon want to return home when the fighting ends.”
On the eve of the Brussels Conference to assist countries hosting Syrian refugees, the Lebanese minister said that the government “has not succeeded in developing a unified policy on the crisis of the displaced; which reflected negatively on us and on securing international support.”
“But we are doing everything we can and we will go to the Brussels conference, which will be held from 23 to 26… It is a high-level opportunity to listen to our demands on the needs of the displaced and those of Lebanon,” he stated.
“The Lebanese delegation going to the Brussels conference will ask the international community to fulfill its duties towards a crisis that will affect the whole world,” the minister added.
Merehbi underlined bickering among Lebanon's politicians over the issue of the displaced, rejecting “any form of cooperation with the Syrian regime, which is killing its people and forcing them to flee to Lebanon.”
The minister denied allegations that 70 percent of Syrian territories were safe, calling on the international community “to coordinate with us to assume the responsibility of the displaced.”
He expected that new waves of refugees would leave to Syria in early summer, stressing that he “does not bear the responsibility to encourage anyone to return”, because he has no confidence in the regime or in terrorist organizations because both sides are killing the Syrian people.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
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