Lebanese President Michel Aoun told Sputnik that the return of Syrian refugees home from Lebanon depended on an international decision rather than on his possible visit to Damascus, adding that Beirut had been in contact with Moscow on the refugees' issue in hope that this partnership would alter a viewpoint of the global community on the matter
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th May, 2020) Lebanese President Michel Aoun told Sputnik that the return of Syrian refugees home from Lebanon depended on an international decision rather than on his possible visit to Damascus, adding that Beirut had been in contact with Moscow on the refugees' issue in hope that this partnership would alter a viewpoint of the global community on the matter.
According to various media reports, Aoun planned to pay an official visit to Damascus in last September to accelerate the process of the Syrian refugees' return, but no dates or further information on a meeting between leaders of the two middle Eastern countries followed. Aoun's last visit to Syria was in 2008.
"We are convinced that the return of [Syrian] refugees to their country is related to an international decision, and it does not depend on my possible visit to Syria. The global community acts out of malice in regard to this issue. It wants to keep [the refugees] in countries neighboring Syria, even if the crisis leads to a social, security and economic collapse [there], like in Lebanon, and does not to want to share the refugee burden with these countries despite the enormous potential of Europe and the United States," Aoun said.
According to the president, Lebanon maintains contact with Russia on the issue of the displaced Syrians, hoping that this cooperation will help to change an international position and find a comprehensive political solution to the Syrian crisis.
"We are in contact with Russia on the matter, especially after an initiative that [Moscow] has put forward to facilitate the refugees' return to their country. Unfortunately, this proposal has faced international obstacles that prevented it from being implemented, and, as a result, the situation in Lebanon has deteriorated. We hope that similarities in [our] views will change the community's will to keep the displaced in the countries where they have found refuge and find a comprehensive solution to the crisis in Syria," the president said.
Of Lebanon's population of 4 million, half are refugees from Syria and 600,000 refugees from Palestine. The country's authorities have repeatedly urged foreign actors to step in and support the crumbling economy.
