BASSIL in Letter to UN: Lebanon Rejects Refugee Settlement and Integration on Its Soil |
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BASSIL in Letter to UN: Lebanon Rejects Refugee Settlement and Integration on Its Soil 18 Dec 2018 Lebanon - Caretaker Foreign Minister, Gebran Bassil, underlined in a letter to the United Nations, Lebanon's rejection of the settlement and integration of refugees and displaced people on the Lebanese soil. "To Lebanon, the sole solution to the displacement crisis is the safe return of refugees to their homeland," Bassil said in the letter. "We consider that the settlement of third countries is a partial solution and sometimes harmful," he added. Moreover, he maintained that the Declaration for Refugees and Migrants must not be exploited as a tool to impose obligations on countries. "Lebanon highlights the importance of unpoliticizing the refugee crisis on its soil and not using it to exert pressure," he said, refusing to link the refugees' return to any other thing than "the suitable conditions" and "the sovereignty of the host country." |