Why does the West throw stones at the return of refugees from Lebanon to Syria?
| The refugee crisis in 1402 continued to be one of the most important problems of Lebanon, and the government and people of this country faced difficult conditions, and the impact of this issue on Lebanon's economic problems is undeniable. |
Mehr News Agency, Intergroup International: Critical conditions in Lebanon’s economy continued in 1402 and one of the influential factors is the presence of millions of displaced people in this country. The presence of nearly 2 million displaced persons in Lebanon, in addition to security and social bottlenecks, has created many economic problems for the Beirut government.
Lebanon has been facing the problems of refugees for a long time, but in the current situation, due to the many difficulties in providing food, energy and housing, the issue of refugees It attracts the attention of the public mind more than ever before. Especially considering the presence of Syrian refugees, the situation has become more difficult for the people of Lebanon and it seems that this problem cannot be solved in the medium term.
Although Lebanon itself is not a populous country and as a small Mediterranean country, it has less than 6 million people, but according to the estimates of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Done in 1402, Lebanon hosts the largest number of displaced persons per square kilometer in the world. Most of the refugees and asylum seekers who live in Lebanon are from Iraq, Palestine and Syria, and it is said that more than one and a half million Syrian refugees have left different parts of Lebanon. This is despite the fact that neither the health and education infrastructure nor the energy and transportation infrastructure in Lebanon can even provide for the Lebanese themselves, and without a doubt, the presence of refugees means imposing an additional burden on the weak economic system of this country. In addition to Syrian refugees, there are 50,000 Iraqi and 270,000 Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon in 12 camps.
In Shahrivar 1402, once again a wave of refugees from northern and eastern Syria went to Lebanon, and Hector Hajjar, Minister of Social Affairs of Lebanon, announced that this situation, Beirut faces more difficult conditions. He mentioned the presence of America in northern Syria and the interventionist and provocative actions of the American forces as the new cause of displacements. This Lebanese official also announced that the efforts of the Lebanese army and security services to prevent new refugees from entering the country did not have much effect. Lebanon needs 40,000 soldiers to take control of the common borders with Syria, while currently only 8,000 troops are present in these areas.
Europe’s insidious decision about refugees living in Lebanon
One of the important approaches of the European Union in the past years has been to prevent the entry of Syrian refugees into the member states of the Union and to resettle them in countries such as Lebanon, Turkey and keep Iraq In the summer of 1402, the European Parliament, in an inhuman and interventionist act, unanimously approved that the Syrian refugees living in Lebanon should remain in this country for an indefinite period of time. The unfortunate thing is that the European Parliament did not even hesitate to hide this shameless act. Thierry Mariani, a French representative in the European Parliament, announced that the said decision, with a majority vote, led to the issuance of a resolution that supports the Syrian refugees staying in Lebanon, and this decision was communicated to Beirut authorities through a video message!
The action of the European Parliament was met with a negative reaction from many Lebanese politicians and they considered this intervention inhumane and a violation of international law. Essam Sharafuddin, the Minister of Immigrant Affairs of the Government of Lebanon, considered the decision of the European Parliament as an interference in the internal affairs of his country and condemned it. He announced that, contrary to the misconception of the European authorities, Lebanon is not a western colony, but an independent country and others have no right to make decisions about it. Referring to Beirut’s efforts to make progress on the return of Syrian refugees to their hometowns, he asked the European Parliament to apologize to the Lebanese people and government for this inhuman decision. All this happened while several meetings were held between the authorities of Damascus and Beirut in 1402 in order to solve the problem of refugees, and valuable consultations and consensus between Lebanon and Syria are still going on.
Also, Najib Miqati, Prime Minister of the Government of Lebanon, during a speech at the international conference “Rome Process”, which aims to deal with the problem of illegal immigration, with the presence of representatives Mediterranean and Middle East countries was held in Italy, he announced his country’s protest against the decision of the European Parliament and said: “The adoption of a new decision by the European Parliament regarding Syrian refugees living in our country is an example of a violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and is unacceptable.” Mikati also pointed out that solving this problem requires a strategic partnership and strengthening coordination between the European Union, Mediterranean countries and Lebanon in order to protect Lebanon’s peace and security and Europe also to solve some issues related to immigration and Help the refugees. At the same time, Mikati emphasized that Lebanon itself, despite the negative effects of the economic crisis and having very limited job opportunities, welcomed the Syrian refugees with open arms and the people of this country shared with them everything they had and supported them.
Refugees, inflation and Lebanese economy
The data of the United Nations Resettlement Program shows the fact that after the Syrian crisis, the huge wave of refugees to Lebanon has created difficult conditions for the housing market of the destination country. It has played a significant role in increasing inflation in such a way that the price of selling and renting real estate in Lebanon reached a level that Lebanese families themselves, especially the middle class of this country, were affected by the increasing growth of inflation and were harmed. This is the variable that aggravated the economic crisis among the middle class in Lebanon. According to the World Bank report, in a recent year, Lebanon’s gross domestic growth experienced an annual decrease of 2.85%, and the increase in demand for public services raised the annual expenditure of the Lebanese government above one billion dollars.
Lebanese government’s view on solving the refugee problem
The refugee crisis in 1402, as one of the most important problems of Lebanon, faced difficult conditions for the government and the people of this country, and the impact of this issue on the economic problems of Lebanon. , it is undeniable and the issue of refugees and the economic crisis in the last one year were arranged in such a way that, on the one hand, the livelihood of refugees was affected by the tension, unrest and economic instability of Lebanon, and on the other hand, the high population of refugees caused Lebanon faces complex and intertwined economic, security, and social problems.
In 1402, the authorities of the Lebanese government repeatedly announced that due to the fact that the conflicts in Syria have ended, there should be a clear plan for the safe and secure return of all Syrian refugees to their homeland. be designed and implemented. Beirut wants the serious attention of international organizations and asks them, instead of paying a small amount to cover the cost of the Syrian refugees’ stay in Lebanon, to leave these amounts at the disposal of the refugees themselves and the Syrian government and prepare the preparations for their safe return. slow.
