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Lebanon working with Syria for safe return of refugees

March 13, 2021 at 12:04 pm

Snow covers Syrian refugee camp in Arsal, Lebanon on 20 January 2021 [Ahmad Laila/Middle East Monitor

Lebanese Social Affairs and Tourism Minister Ramzi Musharrafieh announced on Friday that his recent meeting with Syrian officials in Damascus on the refugee issue was “positive and encouraging”, Lebanese media reported.

Musharrafieh, a minister of the ongoing Lebanese caretaker government, shared that the: “Discussions with Syrian officials during his recent visit to Damascus were more than positive and very encouraging.”

He added that all the ministers he met: “Expressed their full readiness to work with Lebanon to activate the file of the return of displaced persons,” noting that he received guarantees that a: “Dignified and safe return will be achieved for the displaced. We will assist them in all available means and through coordination with the Syrian state, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the international community in general.”

Lebanon hosts around one million Syrian refugees, most of whom live in informal makeshift tents spread out across Lebanon’s Beqaa, not far from the Syrian border.

READ: Syria: most refugee children would not return, report reveals