Lebanon's Foreign Affairs and Emigrants Minister Gebran Bassil stressed the need for Syrians to return home.
His statements came during the Third Municipal Conference entitled: "Your country needs your return: the crisis of displacement and the role of municipalities," held at Forum de Beirut launched by the Central Municipalities Committee for the "Free Patriotic Movement."
"The return issue is, of course, in the interest of Lebanon and the Lebanese, but it is also for the benefit of Syria and the Syrians, because the return of the Syrians to their homeland is a right and does not require an international resolution or an international law," the minister stressed.
"In the Syrian refugees' case, there are political conditions that have taken place and today they can return, and for that we affirm that we are with the unity of Syria ... and we will not hesitate to insist on our position without being racists," he added.
Meanwhile, Progressive Socialist Party Chief, former MP Walid Jumblatt questioned if the conference is "a conference of racism and the implicit hatred and insults of the ruling party?"
"We do not blame them, for this is their philosophy...but what is the position of the partner in settlement and in governance?," he added.
