The Acting Director General of General Security, Major General Elias Bysri, stated that "we are in Brussels to support Lebanon's perspective on the issue of displacement, and we need to convey our opinion." In an interview with MTV, he explained, "We have clarified to the Europeans the reality of the Lebanese position and the seriousness of the Syrian displacement file in Lebanon." He emphasized that "international laws are applied in Lebanon but are suspended when they violate national sovereignty," confirming that "the displacement file needs clarification, and there are concerns among the Lebanese; I believe the time has come for the international community to understand the burden of displacement on Lebanon, and we must seize every opportunity to clarify our views."
He asserted, "We reject the idea of resettlement; Lebanon is not a country of displacement; it is a transit point, not a homeland for displacement or resettlement," pointing out that "there are no refugees in Lebanon. Those who apply to the UN are asylum seekers and not in Lebanon." He observed that "economic displaced individuals have been mixed up with those displaced due to the war in Syria."
He continued, "We set a deadline for the UN to provide us with the data; otherwise, we have a plan B," stressing that "we do not accept instructions from anyone, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees' coordinator made a mistake with the letter sent to the government and thus retracted it." He confirmed that "we need to differentiate between economic displaced individuals and political displaced individuals, and one of the proposed solutions is the resettlement of the displaced."
Bysri added, "We are working rationally on the displacement file, not with populism or instincts, and recently we felt there were suspicious movements in the streets, so we intensified law enforcement to diffuse tensions."
