RIACHY: Refugees' Resettlement Not Executable

21 Sep 2017

Minister of Information, Melhem Riachy, criticized Thursday the recent stance of U.S. President, Donald Trump, at the General Assembly in New York regarding the resettlement project for refugees in neighboring countries, saying that such an idea "is not applicable."

"This idea of [resettlement] is not feasible because the situation of the displaced Syrians differs from that of the Palestinians," Minister Riachy said during an interview to "Voice of Lebanon" Radio Station.

The Minister explained the difference between the presence of Syrian and Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, saying, "Palestinians are a people whose land was taken by force, while in Syria people are leaving their land because of the war."

"When things settle in Syria, people will return to their homeland; no one will resettle them elsewhere and basically, they are not raising this issue," Riachy went on.

In this connection, the Minister disclosed that the Information Ministry is launching a media campaign with the UNHCR following the cabinet's endorsement of a special donors' account.

Commenting on the condition of the Lebanese media and ways to develop it, Riachy referred to several enhancement projects underway to improve the media sector, which might be included in the 2018 annual budget.

As for the Lebanese Television and Radio Lebanon, Riachy said that new changes are occurring in both stations. Moreover, he revealed that the Information Ministry's Studies Directorate is organizing a conference entitled, "Positive Media," in which all media outlets will be encouraged to partake.

Speaking about the Lebanese Forces and Free Patriotic Movement's understanding after 30 years of disputes, Riachy deemed that "without peace and love this couldn't have been achieved, neither would a new President have been elected nor would the constitutional institutions have regained their balance."