BEIRUT, Jun 20 (NNN-NNA) – Lebanese authorities will implement a new plan, to solve the Syrian refugee crisis within their borders, if the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) continues to delay the delivery of data on Syrian refugees in the country, said Elias al-Baysari, director-general of Lebanon’s General Security, yesterday.
“We asked the UNHCR again to provide us with complete data about refugees present on our lands; if not provided, we will implement a plan B, which has become ready now,” al-Baysari said, at a cabinet meeting.
In Aug, last year, Lebanon concluded an agreement with the UNHCR to share data related to all Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
To this date, the UNHCR has not delivered the data, which include the names of Syrian refugees, their registration dates in Lebanon, and their specific regions of origin in Syria, according to Lebanese authorities.
Plan B, drafted by al-Baysari, includes setting up a data centre, to count the number of Syrian displaced individuals in Lebanon, establishing detention centres to apprehend offenders and repatriate them, and mandating Syrian refugees registered before 2015, to visit General Security centres for application completion.
Lebanese authorities have on many occasions urged the international community to assist Lebanon in returning Syrian refugees to their country. The Lebanese government estimates that the country hosts about two million Syrian refugees, which weighs heavily on the country’s infrastructure.– NNN-NNA
