Lebanon is finalizing its documents to the forthcoming Brussels conference, which will be held on April 24 under the title, “Support for the future of Syria and the region”, amid expectations that the country will prioritize the return of Syrian refugees, in conjunction with preparations for the Cedar Conference to rally economic support, which will take place in Paris on April 4.
The ministerial committee in charge of the refugee issue is preparing the documents, which, according to official Lebanese sources, have not yet been finalized, due to the heavy stream of conferences in which Lebanon is participating this spring.
After the recent Rome Conference to support the security institutions, priority is now given to prepare for the Paris Conference, with a subsequent focus on the Brussels Conference.
In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, the official sources noted that the return of refugees to their country would be the main issue politically, in addition to the repercussions of the displacement crisis on the economic situation, especially in terms of worsening unemployment rates and the great challenges facing public schools, hospitals and the electricity sector, as the refugees consume 18 percent of total power production.
According to the records of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), there are currently 995,512 regitered refugees living on the Lebanese territories, while the number reached 1.5 million in the past years.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Lebanon bears the burdens of the displaced, estimated at about $7 billion, while the Lebanese state suffers from an economic deficit. Before the Syrian crisis, the growth rate reached 8 percent, while today it is around 1.1 percent.
Former Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said that it was “illogical and impermissible to link the return of the displaced Syrians to their country to a political solution in the Syrian crisis.”
In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Charbel noted that most of the Syrian areas were safe and therefore could welcome their citizens back.
