BEIRUT:
Lebanon will carry out its plan to send back 15,000 Syrian refugees every month regardless what the position of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is, a Minister said.
Minister of the Displaced Issam Charafeddine told the National News Agency (NNA) that he has asked Syria authorities to set a date for his visit to discuss the Lebanese plan to return Syrian refugees.
“Statements by the UN Higher Commissioner for Refugees that object to the Lebanese plan are delaying (the potential) meeting,” Charafeddine stated to the NNA.
In July, the Minister had announced the Lebanese plan to return Syrian refugees monthly.
However, the UNHCR refused to approve the plan on the ground that Syria is not safe for the returning refugees.
It added that Syrian refugees who returned between 2017 and 2021 from Lebanon and Jordan faced grave human rights abuses and persecution at the hands of the Syrian government and affiliated militias.
Lebanon remains the country hosting the largest number of refugees per capita in the world, with an estimated 1.5 million Syrians and some 13,715 of other nationalities. IANS