Rai from Paris: Lebanon refuses voluntary return of Syrian refugees

Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai said on Tuesday that the ongoing war in Syria puts Lebanon in an imminent danger and causes Lebanon’s deterioration on the social, political and economic levels.

Rai’s comments were made from France during his official visit to the country whereby he stressed the need to put an end for all wars in the region, and to find peaceful and political solutions for all conflicts.

He also said that all refugees must return to their homelands.

“Lebanon refuses the voluntary return of Syria refugees, and will not backtrack on demanding the return off all Palestinian refugees also,” Rai concluded by saying.

Lebanon has been struggling to deal with the influx of refugees that now represents a quarter of its four-million- population.

 

More than 270,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict stared with anti-government protests in March 2011.

 

The war has displaced over half of the country's population, including more than four million who fled Syria, becoming refugees.