The Council of Ministers discussed the issue of Syrian displacement in its session yesterday and listened to a presentation by the acting Director General of General Security, Major General Elias Baydoun, regarding the data of displaced people in the possession of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). According to Al-Akhbar newspaper, Baydoun informed the council that "the Commission provided us with data without dates," noting that "despite the Cabinet's decision in 2014 to stop registering any Syrian displaced persons entering after that year, registrations continued. Due to the absence of dates, we no longer know who was registered after the decision." He clarified that "the role of the Commission is to receive the documents of the displaced as a preliminary step for their repatriation to a third country, but it has not adhered to this role." He confirmed that "there are no longer any residency permits for Syrians," revealing upcoming measures, including "establishing a data center in the Damour area to account for all Syrians in Lebanese territory, and setting up detention centers in all governorates to arrest violators in preparation for their deportation."
While ministerial sources indicated that "funding is secured for these measures," they noted a proposal by ministers to amend some laws related to the employment of Syrians by Lebanese employers in violation of regulations, while the Secretary-General of the Cabinet, Mahmoud Makiya, pointed out that this could be possible through submitting a draft law in this regard. The Cabinet also heard a study presented by a delegation from the World Bank indicating that "the cost of displacement on the macroeconomy reached approximately $30 billion between 2011 and 2017, and it is estimated to have reached $60 billion by 2019." In terms of hosting, the cost was about $1 billion, although the study did not take into account the environmental and health dimensions and other implications. It was decided that the ministers would review the study and provide feedback based on their respective ministries.