In an interview with ‘Voice of All Lebanon’ Radio Channel this morning, Caretaker Minister of the Displaced, Issam Sharafeddine, said he might be withdrawing from his ministerial duties and handing them over to the Minister of Industry, awaiting the next cabinet meeting and the fate of the return convoys.
Sharafeddine described the government as one that obstructs business instead of facilitating matters, adding, ‘I am reluctantly present in this ministry.’
He pointed to the absence of a plan to return the displaced to their country, noting that what was presented by Minister Abdallah Bou Habib at the Brussels conference were only demands by Lebanon that were not agreed upon with the Commission, contrary to what PM Najib Mikati said, as he explained.
Sharafeddine asserted that the European Union still adheres to its position of rejecting the return of the displaced to their country.
He stressed “the importance of establishing a tripartite committee that includes the Lebanese and Syrian sides, in addition
to the UNHCR, which rejected this because of external dictates to it.”
“The data provided by the Commission is incomplete,’ he went on, adding, ‘There is a waste of time, and the Commission has become the problem instead of being the key to the solution.’
He also described the billion euros as “a bribe to keep the displaced and turn us into border guards.”
Sharafeddine called for “creating a Lebanese- Arab- international lobby to pressure the outside world to give up their obstinacy in this file, lift the siege on Syria and facilitate the return of the displaced, for those who wish to return, or facilitate the transfer of those who wish to seek refuge in welcoming countries, since Lebanon is a transit country and not a country of asylum.”
“As for those wishing to remain In Lebanon, they must abide by all Lebanese laws to legalize their presence here,” the Minister underlined.
Source: National News Agency – Lebanon