Sharp Debate among Ministers over Closing Border with Syria
Sharp differences surfaced among cabinet members on how to deal with the mass influx of Syrian and Palestinian refugees into Lebanon from Syria, local newspapers said on Thursday.
According to An Nahar newspaper, Free Patriotic Movement's Energy Minister Jebran Bassil and Minister of State Ali Qanso from the Syrian Social Nationalist Party proposed during a cabinet session at the Grand Serail on Wednesday to close the border with Syria and halt the influx of the refugees.
The proposal is based on reports saying that not all the refugees crossing into Lebanon are fleeing the turmoil in their country as several of them are “undisciplined members,” who could affect stability in Lebanon.
Bassil suggested contacting the countries that support the popular uprising in Syria, wondering why they are only offering funds to aid the refugees instead of welcoming them in their territories, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported.
However, the proposal was confronted by fierce rejection by Progressive Socialist Party ministers as Public Works Minister Ghazi Aridi stressed that the government is incapable of implementing such a measure given that the state can't monitor and control the border and refugees would seek to use illegal crossings to enter the country.
Later, Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour told Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) that the latest figures show that there are around 160,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
“It's the responsibility of the state to control the border. The refugees could head to other Syrian cities rather than entering Lebanon,” the minister said.
The intense fighting between forces loyal to President Bashar Assad and rebels battling to overthrow him has sparked a huge exodus of Syrians and Palestinians to neighboring countries.
Until this week, around 10,000 Palestinians had fled from Syria to Lebanon, but since the latest violence another 3,000 had crossed the border or were in the process of crossing, UNRWA deputy chief of staff Lisa Gilliam said.
More than 150,000 Syrian refugees have fled the bloody conflict in their home country for Lebanon, according to figures released by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
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