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Lebanon’s Govt Accuses Syrian Refugees of Altering Country’s Identity

Lebanon’s caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi. (AP)
Lebanon’s caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi. (AP)
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Lebanon’s Govt Accuses Syrian Refugees of Altering Country’s Identity

Lebanon’s caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi. (AP)
Lebanon’s caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi. (AP)

Political and popular campaigns against the growing presence of Syrian refugees in Lebanon are exacerbating, amid demands to return them to their homeland and counter international community claims that their return is not yet safe to their war-torn country.

Lebanon’s army has taken security measures on the border with Syria to prevent the illegal entry of refugees.

Meanwhile, Lebanon’s caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi gave the “green light” on Wednesday to the municipalities to “stop the illegal presence of refugees”, vowing accountability.

After a meeting with mayors and governors, Mawlawi said in a press conference that “a large number of different kinds of crimes are committed by the Syrians in Lebanon”.

He said more than 30% of the total crimes are committed by Syrians, including theft, car stealing, kidnapping, manslaughter, drug smuggling, human trafficking, counterfeit, sexual harassment, etc. “This requires cooperation in order for us to preserve the image of our country”, he said.

The Syrian presence in Lebanon “is causing massive damage to this country, its identity and future”, added Mawlawi.

The Minister stated that Lebanon will accept no assistance whatsoever with the aim of making it turn a blind eye on the illegal entry of refugees. “...Lebanon is not for sale”, he said.

Lebanon is home to some 800,000 Syrians registered with the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) who have fled since the war erupted in 2011.

Lebanese authorities say the real number of Syrians in their country is 2 million.

The international community says the return of refugees is not yet safe to their war-ravaged country. Relatives and rights advocates say that deported refugees are subject to forced conscription upon return to their homeland.

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Italy’s Foreign Minister Heads to Syria to Encourage Post-Assad Transition

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
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Italy’s Foreign Minister Heads to Syria to Encourage Post-Assad Transition

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he would travel to Syria on Friday to encourage the country's transition following the ouster of President Bashar Assad by insurgents, and appealed on Europe to review its sanctions on Damascus now that the political situation has changed.
Tajani presided over a meeting in Rome on Thursday of foreign ministry officials from five countries, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the United States.
The aim, he said, is to coordinate the various post-Assad initiatives, with Italy prepared to make proposals on private investments in health care for the Syrian population.
Going into the meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and their European counterparts, Tajani said it was critical that all Syrians be recognized with equal rights. It was a reference to concerns about the rights of Christians and other minorities under Syria’s new de facto authorities of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HT.
“The first messages from Damascus have been positive. That’s why I’m going there tomorrow, to encourage this new phase that will help stabilize the international situation,” Tajani said.
Speaking to reporters, he said the European Union should discuss possible changes to its sanctions on Syria. “It’s an issue that should be discussed because Assad isn’t there anymore, it’s a new situation, and I think that the encouraging signals that are arriving should be further encouraged,” he said.
Syria has been under deeply isolating sanctions by the US, the European Union and others for years as a result of Assad’s brutal response to what began as peaceful anti-government protests in 2011 and spiraled into civil war.
HTS led a lightning insurgency that ousted Assad on Dec. 8 and ended his family’s decades-long rule. From 2011 until Assad’s downfall, Syria’s uprising and civil war killed an estimated 500,000 people.
The US has gradually lifted some penalties since Assad departed Syria for protection in Russia. The Biden administration in December decided to drop a $10 million bounty it had offered for the capture of a Syrian opposition leader whose forces led the ouster of Assad last month.
Syria’s new leaders also have been urged to respect the rights of minorities and women. Many Syrian Christians, who made up 10% of the population before Syria’s civil war, either fled the country or supported Assad out of fear of insurgents.