Lebanon’s Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi accused the European Union of exploiting the crisis of Syrian refugees in Lebanon for political ends.
Rahi has repeatedly criticized the EU after a $1 billion was announced by EU chief Ursula Von der Leyen to help Lebanon tackle illegal migration.
The EU chief said the aid was designed to strengthen basic services such as to bolster border management, education and health amid a severe economic crisis, and will continue until 2027.
In his Sunday sermon, Rahi said the accumulating crises in Lebanon and the region necessitate the election of a new head of state.
“The situation in the region calls for the election of a president, so does the war in Palestine, and the issue of Syrian refugees residing illegally on Lebanese soil”, said Rahi.
He voiced calls for their swift return to safe areas in Syria. “Safe areas in Syria are much more spacious than Lebanon”.
He criticized the “lack of international and EU cooperation” to help Lebanon resolve the refugee crisis impacting the country’s already fragile economy.
“These countries are exploiting the refugee crisis for political gains in Syria. They do not want to draw a line separating the political crisis from the return of refugees to their homeland. They are making Lebanon carry this immense burden and its dangerous consequences”, he said.
On May 2, the EU chief announced a financial package of $1 billion for Lebanon that would be available from this year until 2027.
The aid will be disbursed "in grants", with 736 million euros earmarked to support Lebanon "in response to the Syrian crisis", an EU official said.
The grant sparked political and popular criticisms in Lebanon, mainly among Christian political parties, and after the killing incident of a Lebanese Forces official, Pascal Sleiman, by a Syrian gang. The perpetrators took his corpse to Syria.
Von der Leyen said the EU was committed to maintaining "legal pathways open to Europe" and resettling refugees, but "at the same time, we count on your good cooperation to prevent illegal migration and combat migrant smuggling".
Lebanon's economy collapsed in late 2019, turning it into a launchpad for migrants, with Lebanese joining Syrians and Palestinian refugees making perilous Europe-bound voyages.
Lebanon says it currently hosts around two million people from neighboring Syria -- the world's highest number of refugees per capita -- with almost 785,000 registered with the United Nations.
