Lebanon threatens to expel Syrian refugees

Today, Monday, Lebanon threatened to expel Syrian refugees unless the international community, especially Western countries, cooperated with it to return them to their country.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said, during his sponsorship of the launch of the "Lebanon Crisis Response Plan 2022-2023" in Beirut, that the international community should cooperate with his country to return the Syrian refugees to their homeland, or "Lebanon will have a position that is not desirable for Western countries."

Mikati explained that "the position that Lebanon will take is to work to get the Syrians out of Lebanon by legal means, by firmly implementing the Lebanese laws," without providing further details.

He said, "Lebanon is going through one of the most severe economic, financial, social and political crises in the world, and as a result, about 85 percent of the Lebanese people are now living below the poverty line."

"Over the past 11 years, Lebanon has shouldered an unbearable pressure burden due to the presence of more than 1.7 million Syrian and Palestinian refugees living throughout the country, that is, in 97 percent of the municipalities," he added.

Mikati stressed that Lebanon has shown the highest levels of incubation and hospitality for Syrian refugees, despite the fact that the country's conditions are weak and fragile.

Since 2019, Lebanon has been experiencing an unprecedented severe economic crisis that has led to the collapse of the value of the local currency, a shortage of fuel, medicine, and other basic commodities, in addition to a sharp decline in the purchasing power of citizens.

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