Lebanese interim Prime Minister Najib Mikati has called on Syrian refugees in his country to return home after the fall of the regime of deposed President Bashar al-Assad.
Mikati declared yesterday Saturday during a political conference in Rome that “the repercussions of the war in Syria have made Lebanon the incubator of the largest number of refugees in relation to its population”, stressing that “Syrian refugees constitute a third of our population. .”
Mikati went on to say: “The pressure on our resources is very high, which is exacerbating current economic problems and creating fierce competition for jobs and services.”
Mikati told the symposium organized by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s “Fratelli d’Italia” (Brothers of Italy) party that “the international community, especially Europe, must help the return of Syrians.”
He stressed that this must be done “by engaging” in recovery efforts in “safe areas in Syria”.
Lebanon’s population, according to authorities, is 5.8 million, while the country currently hosts around two million Syrians, according to Lebanese authorities.
Controversy over the return of Syrian refugees
After the fall of the Syrian regime, controversy arose in several European countries regarding the return to their countries of Syrian refugees present in these countries after the reasons for their asylum had disappeared.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, called on Monday for patience as millions of Syrian refugees assess the possibilities of returning to their country after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Grandi said in a statement sent to journalists: “There is a great opportunity for Syria to move towards peace and for its people to begin returning to their country.” He added: “But as the situation remains uncertain, millions of refugees are wondering if they can return home safely. Some are impatient, others are hesitant.
In Germany, Chancellor Olaf Schulz expressed his refusal to send back any well-integrated Syrian refugee in Germany, while Austria offered a sum of one thousand euros to each Syrian refugee wishing to return to their country.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said he does not want to send well-integrated Syrian refugees back to Germany, even after the fall of deposed President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Schulz said in a podcast that anyone who is well integrated, speaks German and has a work contract can feel safe in Germany. He added: “This also applies to Syrians… We will not ask them to quit their jobs and leave. .”
German Interior Minister Nancy Weiser has already warned of negative consequences for the German labor market, particularly in the health sector, if Syrian refugees were returned to their country.
Health Minister Karl Lauterbach spoke of more than 6,000 Syrian doctors fully integrated in Germany and indispensable to the German health system.
Among those who strongly oppose the return of Syrians to their country are employers, unions and industrial federations, a reminder of how necessary they are to the German economy, which faces a serious labor shortage.
However, several European Union countries, including Germany and Italy, have frozen the consideration of new asylum applications submitted by Syrian citizens, with more than 100,000 cases pending across the bloc until the end of October, according to official data.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, there are currently 6.2 million Syrian refugees, almost a third of the Syrian population outside their country, 3 quarters (76%) in neighboring countries, 3 million in Turkey, around 775,000 in Lebanon. , and more than 600,000 in Jordan, almost 300,000 in Iraq and more than 150,000 in Egypt.
These five countries alone host around 5 million Syrians, despite the unstable political and economic situation in some of them, such as Lebanon and Iraq, where reception capacities are limited, but the lack of resources or The hope of a rapid return makes some refugees choose them.