Beirut [Lebanon], April 27: Lebanon's caretaker premier NagibMikati on Wednesday asked the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to submit all available data on displaced Syrians within a week, amid growing anti-Syrian sentiment across the country.
It comes after Mikati chaired a ministerial committee meeting attended by Lebanon's army chief, the Internal Security Forces chief as well as the country's Acting General Security chief.
In a statement issued following the meeting, Mikati called on the UN agency to provide available data on displaced Syrians to Lebanon's Ministry of the Interior and Municipalities.
According to the statement, any Syrian who leaves Lebanese territory will be stripped of their refugee status.
For the past two weeks, the Lebanese army has intensified raids across the country arresting hundreds and deporting dozens of Syrian nationals who entered Lebanon illegally or those who have expired residency cards.
Anti-Syrian sentiment has recently been growing in Lebanon, which has taken in many refugees fleeing the neighbouring country's civil war, with many Lebanese officials saying Syria is now safe and that Syrians should return to their country.
The calls increased significantly ever since Lebanon was hit by a severe economic crisis in 2019.
The attendees of Wednesday's meeting urged foreign countries to participate "in bearing the burdens of the Syrian refugees... especially amid the exacerbation of the economic crisis in [Lebanon]." According to Lisa Abu Khaled, UNHCR spokeswoman in Lebanon, more than 1.5 million Syrian refugees live in Lebanon, but only about 800,000 of them are officially registered with the agency.
The civil war in Syria, which broke out in 2011, has killed more than 350,000 people and displaced 13 million, some inside Syria while others fled to neighbouring countries like Lebanon and Turkey.
Source: Qatar Tribune