Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil "Lebanon and Syria already have relations never cut diplomatic ties" Bassil: Conferences finance the stay of the refugees" 16/3/2019 BEIRUT: Conferences that raise money by way of responding to the Syrian refugee crisis “fund the stay of the refugees” in host countries instead of their return to Syria, Free Patriotic Movement leader Gebran Bassil claimed Thursday night. “Big countries are pressuring [countries like Lebanon] to keep the refugees. It is not a coincidence that I am here today and not at the Brussels Conference, because these conferences fund the stay of the refugees, and we want their return to be funded,” Bassil told attendees at a dinner in Furn al-Shubbak, according to the state-run NNA. One of the central points of contention internally surrounding the refugee returns has been whether Lebanon should fully reestablish ties with Damascus to carry them out. The FPM, Hezbollah and their allies support normalized ties and coordination with Syria to ensure the safe return of Syrian refugees to their country, while the Future Movement, the Lebanese Forces and the Progressive Socialist Party staunchly oppose direct contacts with Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime until a political solution to the conflict there is reached. But Bassil, who is also the foreign minister, noted that Lebanon and Syria already have relations. (While the countries never cut diplomatic ties, a sharp division exists within Lebanese political circles over the country's relationship with Syria.) He said Thursday the safe returns could be achieved through the enforcement of Lebanese labor laws, communication with the Syrian state and coordination with the international community. His comments came as international donors at the three-day Brussels III Conference pledged about $7 billion in aid for refugees who have fled the war-ravaged country. At the conference’s final session, Prime Minister Saad Hariri had appealed to the international community to provide Lebanon with about $2.6 billion in funding to support long-term projects to facilitate the refugees’ return to their home country. It remains unclear how much of the $7 billion aid package will be directed to Lebanon. Hariri emphasized that the only solution to the Syrian refugee crisis lay in their safe return to their country in accordance with international laws and treaties. The Lebanese government estimates that about 1.5 million Syrian refugees are in the country, and says they are straining Lebanon’s flagging economy and frail infrastructure. |