Opposition to propose plan for resolving Syrian refugee crisis
The Lebanese opposition has prepared a plan for resolving the Syrian refugee crisis that is based on two steps: distributing the refugees on Arab countries and halting the work of UNHCR (U.N. refugee agency) in Lebanon, media reports said.
UNHCR is “not only spending money to consolidate the presence of 850,000 refugees registered on its lists, but also on 900,000 unregistered (Syrian) migrants,” the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper reported on Thursday, quoting opposition sources.
A prominent opposition source told the daily that “the plan is related to gradual steps and coordination among the opposition components to unify the stance over the practical steps that should be taken, starting by confronting the U.N. refugee agency, which is financing the unregistered refugee influx, a move that encourages the Syrians who are still in their country to come to Lebanon.”
“In addition to the fixed salaries and other services that the agency is offering to registered refugees, it is also providing monthly financial assistance to the new migrants. So if the new migrant will receive 10 dollars per day without doing any work, they will not obtain the same amount weekly in Syria even if they work,” the newspaper said.
“According to the opposition’s plan, UNHCR has become the target, seeing as if it stops spending money on refugees, they will automatically leave Lebanon and any new migrant will refrain from coming to Lebanon,” the daily added.
The plan entails working with the government, the Arab League and the international community in order to “distribute the refugees in Lebanon on the Arab countries, with each country hosting at least 40,000 refugees,” Nidaa al-Watan said.
The plan will also call on the government to tightly seal the border with Syria.
Asked about Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s suggestion that Lebanese authorities allow Syrian refugees to travel by sea to Europe, the opposition sources described the idea as “illogical.”
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