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Libyan-Egyptian Consulate Committee Discusses Activating ‘Four Freedoms’ Agreement

Libyan-Egyptian Consulate Committee Discusses Activating ‘Four Freedoms’ Agreement
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Libyan-Egyptian Consulate Committee Discusses Activating ‘Four Freedoms’ Agreement

Libyan-Egyptian Consulate Committee Discusses Activating ‘Four Freedoms’ Agreement

The Libyan-Egyptian Joint Consulate Committee has discussed the importance of activating the bilateral “Four Freedoms” Agreement, which includes articles related to ownership, movement, work, and residence.

Following an eight-year halt, the Committee held its 13th session in Cairo this week, during which parties discussed cooperation in eight various fields, as well as several issues of common interest.

Among the matters discussed were aspects of joint cooperation in the fields of consular, security and judicial cooperation, manpower and social insurance, marine fishing and fisheries, financial and customs issues, land transport, and health.

Extensive discussions also took place on several outstanding issues, including facilitating procedures to grant visas to citizens of both countries, simplifying entry procedures through official outlets, and working on activating the agreement for canceling entry fees.

Both sides also agreed to figure out and overcome all difficulties facing the movement of cars, individuals, trucks, and goods between the two countries, as well as giving priority to patients and humanitarian cases.

The Egyptian delegation was headed by Assistant Foreign Minister for Consular Affairs Ambassador Amr Mahmoud Abbas, while the Libyan side was headed by Undersecretary for Technical Affairs Mahmoud Khalifa al-Telisi.

Earlier this week, Cairo assigned Ambassador Mohammed Tharwat as Charge d’Affaires of its embassy in Tripoli. He is expected to arrive in the capital on Friday to assume his post.

In April, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly visited Tripoli at the head of a high-ranking delegation and met with his Libyan counterpart, Abdel Hamid Dbeibeh.

Both sides discussed regional and international issues of common interest and emphasized the importance of intensifying coordination and political consultation on various issues.

They stressed the importance of protecting Libya’s sovereignty over its territory, its political unity, and its independence.

Madbouly stressed in a statement that the Presidential Council and the Government of National Unity (GNU) are the only legitimate executive authorities in Libya.

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Syrian Returns from Lebanon to Start under UN-backed Plan

FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo
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Syrian Returns from Lebanon to Start under UN-backed Plan

FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo

Thousands of Syrian refugees are set to return from Lebanon this week under the first, UN-backed plan providing financial incentives, after Syria's new rulers said all citizens were welcome home despite deep war damage and security concerns.

Returning Syrians will be provided with $100 each in Lebanon and $400 per family upon arrival in Syria, Lebanese Social Affairs Minister Haneen Sayed said. Transport is also covered and fees have been waived by border authorities, she said.

"I think it's a good and important start. We have discussed and are coordinating this with our Syrian counterparts and I think the numbers will increase in the coming weeks," Sayed told Reuters. A Syrian interior ministry spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

More than 6 million Syrians fled as refugees after conflict broke out in Syria in 2011, with most heading to Türkiye, Lebanon and Jordan. Lebanon has the highest concentration of refugees per capita in the world, hosting about 1.5 million Syrians among a population of about 4 million Lebanese.

Some 11,000 have registered to return from Lebanon in the first week, and the government targets between 200,000 and 400,000 returns this year under the plan, Sayed said.

The Lebanese government is focused on informal tented settlements in the country, where some 200,000 refugees live, she added, and may provide Syrian breadwinners who stay in Lebanon with work permits for sectors such as agriculture and construction if their families return to Syria.

UN agencies previously viewed Syria as unsafe for large-scale returns due to uncertainty over security and persecution by the government of Bashar al-Assad, who was toppled in December.

That has changed.

Since taking over, the new Syrian government has said all Syrians are welcome home. A UN survey from earlier this year showed nearly 30% of refugees living in Middle Eastern countries wanted to go back, up from 2% when Assad was in power.

"While the situation in Syria continues to rapidly evolve, (UN refugee agency) UNHCR considers the current context a positive opportunity for larger numbers of Syrian refugees to return home, or to begin considering return in a realistic and durable way," Ivo Freijsen, UNHCR Representative in Lebanon, told Reuters.

As of the end of June 2025, UNHCR estimated that over 628,000 Syrians had crossed back to Syria via neighboring countries since 8 December 2024, including 191,000 via Lebanon.