The Syrian Coalition’s Department of Refugee Affairs held an emergency meeting on the risks and threats facing the Syrian refugees in Lebanon as well as the worsening violations against them.
The meeting was attended by members of the presidential and political bodies, heads of departments and committees, head of the committee for the follow-up on the affairs of Syrian refugees in Lebanon Abdul Rahman Akkari, and journalist and political activist Ahmed Qusair.
The participants discussed the situation of the Syrian refugees in Lebanon in light of the increasing hostility and violations they are facing, including arrests and murder as well as the destruction and burning of refugee camps leaving thousands of refugees without shelter.
Head of the Department of Refugee Affairs Amal Sheikho said that the recent developments are a clear example of the growing hostility being fueled by the Lebanese Foreign Minister and the officials allied with Hezbollah and the Assad regime. She pointed out that these attacks were aimed at putting increasing pressure on the Syrian refugees and forcing them to return to Syria in risky conditions.
Sheikho went on to say that the growing hostility towards the Syrian refugees serve the interests of Hezbollah which is seeking to blame Lebanon’s economic hardships on refugees. It also servers the Assad regime’s goals of putting pressure on the international community to accept its conditions for the issue of reconstruction.
Moreover, Sheikho stressed that these tactics represent violation of the international resolutions on refugees as she called on the United Nations to put an end to these attacks.
Sheikho called on the Lebanese officials who have stood with the Syrian revolution to continue supporting the Syrian refugees in Lebanon and to stand up to the hate speech and racism against the refugees. She praised their great efforts in this regard, adding that the Lebanese and Syrian peoples have suffered for decades at the hands of the Assad regime and the blatant Iranian interference that undermined the security and stability of the region. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
