Lebanese President Michel Aoun called on the international community to assist Lebanon in securing the return of Syrian refugees and displaced persons to their country.
In a speech he gave yesterday on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, he said that Lebanon, which is groaning from unprecedented crises and burdened by it, will not be able to continue hosting the largest number of refugees in the world relative to the population.
The United Nations says it has registered nearly a million Syrian refugees in Lebanon, while the authorities say it hosts 1.5 million.
The Corona virus and the recent economic crisis in Lebanon exacerbate the difficulties experienced by refugees who have been living in extreme poverty for years inside Lebanon, and aid workers say that refugees do not find enough water to wash their hands regularly, especially since they only get water in their camps through trucks.
Since last year, voices have risen in Lebanon calling for the return of refugees to their country, as the Free Patriotic Movement (the party of President Michel Aoun) spearheaded these claims and organized movements to support the employment of the Lebanese, in conjunction with media campaigns bearing the refugees from the consequences of the economic, social, and even security crises. Sometimes.
This coincided with the evacuation of refugee camps and organized campaigns to close small shops owned by Syrians.
On the other hand, human rights activists, organizations and associations reject the campaigns against refugees, and in this context, they recorded the movements and general sit-ins of activists who rejected what they described as hate speech and stressed respect for international laws and humanitarian covenants.