Minister of Displaced Persons Issam Sharafeddine announced that he will "reject the European aid if it is conditioned on keeping the displaced in Lebanon." He stated through "Voice of Lebanon 93.3": "After the crime of Pascal Suleiman, there is a national consensus that this issue is a matter of Lebanese agreement and there is no disagreement, awaiting the political decision to begin the solution as the situation can no longer bear delays." Sharafeddine emphasized that "what is needed is to provide ships to transport the displaced to their homeland, not illegal and unsafe boats."
Regarding the convoys for the repatriation of displaced persons that General Security has recently relaunched, Sharafeddine clarified that "in 2022, the convoys began transporting Syrians, but the file was withdrawn and handed over to Major General Abbas Ibrahim and then to Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib, and the file has been stalled until today after the situation deteriorated." He pointed out that "the purpose of this initiative is to mobilize the displaced file and to revive the understanding paper between Lebanon and Syria," considering that "this file can only be solved through a meeting between the two countries, and the Prime Minister must discuss the final solution in Syria."
Sharafeddine announced that "the goal of the Bkirki meeting is to pressure the government and the international community to activate the file of the Syrians and their return to their country." In response to a question about his relationship with President Mikati, Sharafeddine said: "The disagreement does not spoil the friendship, and the differences do not carry personal backgrounds."
