In response to the statements made yesterday by the regional spokesperson for the US State Department regarding Syrian refugees, who claimed that conditions are not conducive for their return to their country, MP Georges Adwan said: "These statements are not accurate, and we do not take them into account. We hope that if these officials believe that conditions are not suitable for the Syrians to return, while waiting for them to become suitable, they should host the Syrians in their own country. More importantly, they should stop providing aid to Syrians in Lebanon. If they truly want to help them, they should assist them in Syria or take them back to their country."
Adwan made these remarks during a press conference held after a session of the Administration and Justice Committee, where he announced that "the committee has completed its study of the draft law related to concealed registrations and included all the regulations pertaining to obtaining citizenship, the most important of which is undergoing a DNA test."
He explained that "the issue of Syrians in Lebanon has significantly dominated the discussions of the Administration and Justice Committee in today's session, and it has become a weekly agenda we work on in our meetings and follow up on." Adwan said, "It’s been some time since we last heard comments from foreign officials. The latest statements were made by the regional spokesperson for the US State Department yesterday stating that conditions are not suitable for the return of Syrians to their country. We respond: these statements are not accurate and we do not take them into account. We hope that if these officials believe that conditions are not conducive for the return of the Syrians, while waiting for the conditions to improve, they should host the Syrians in their own country. More importantly, they ought to stop providing aid to Syrians in Lebanon, and if they really want to help them, they should do so in Syria or take them back to their country. Continuing their assistance to Syrians inside Lebanon, given all the resulting economic, security, social, and demographic problems, we say we can no longer bear this issue."
He considered that "the government, to this day despite all our requests, is negligent, the security agencies are not fully fulfilling their roles, and the judiciary is, again and again, releasing anyone detained for violating their duties by not enforcing the laws."
Adwan confirmed that "the committee discussed practical matters in today's session and requested from the government first to know the details of an agreement signed by the Minister of Interior in 2016 with the UNHCR that provides residency confirmations for Syrians in Lebanon. We believe the government must immediately request the cessation of this agreement and annul all residency confirmations that have been granted previously. We consider the only relevant agreement is the one signed in 2003 with the General Security, which is an official agreement stating that Lebanon is a transit country, not a country for asylum."
He indicated that "the committee is working on laws to tighten penalties against those who employ or house Syrians without a work permit in Lebanon. Here we will insist on any mukhtar or official employee who provides false certifications that allow the obtaining of legal official papers, and all of this will be translated into quick legislative proposals to increase the penalties."
Adwan continued: "As for the funding for the suddenly 'appearing' associations, which number 9,000, and all of which receive funding from abroad to spend on Syrians in Lebanon, all of them must be subject to legal and regulatory controls. The funding of Syrians in Lebanon must stop, and this is a position we state openly without shame."
