Amid its plan to take measures capable to speed up the return of Syrian refugees to their country, Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry accused the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) of negatively affecting those who wish to voluntarily go back home.
On Thursday, Lebanon’s Director of Political and Consular Affairs Ghadi Khoury visited the border town of Arsal, which is hosting thousands of refugees, on a mission to verify that UNHCR was playing a negative role and was not encouraging Syrian refugees for returns since conditions are safe.
After meeting some 25 refugees, Khoury told Asharq Al-Awsat: “This visit proved that the UN agency is playing a negative role concerning the return of Syrian refugees back home, by asking oriented questions,” which are driving fears among the refugees.
“Do you know under which conditions you will live in Syria?” is one of the questions the UNHCR is asking refugees in Arsal, Khoury said.
The UNHCR rejected on Thursday accusations that it was exerting pressure on refugees not to voluntarily go back home.
“When refugees express their intention to return, the agency should verify that they have an idea about the place they are heading to, or whether they needed any documents which we can help provide,” UNHCR spokeswoman Lisa Abou Khaled told Asharq Al-Awsat.
She added that the agency is questioning those refugees to follow up on their conditions once they return to Syria.
Amid the uproar that emerged between Lebanon and the UN, the Foreign Ministry gave the UNHCR a two-week notice to place a plan for the return of refugees.
Khoury said the ministry already set its own strategy concerning the return of Syrians back home, but would wait for the plan of the international organization before taking any decision in this regard.
Lately, Lebanese Minister of State for the Displaced Moeen al-Merehbi had published a statistic conducted by his ministry showing that 95 percent of refugees in Lebanon wish to return to their countries.
Last April, the Lebanese Foreign Ministry had called for a re-evaluation of the work of the UNHCR after the agency questioned the voluntary return of around 500 Syrian refugees, who left Lebanon.
Arsal mayor Bassel al-Hujeiri told Asahrq Al-Awsat on Thursday there are around 3,000 who are expected to go back to Syria in the coming week.
He said those refugees are waiting for the permission of the Syrian authorities before heading back home.
Another 5,000 refugees living in the town of Shebaa are also expected to return to Syria.
