Counting the displaced: Lebanon seeks data on Syrian refugees

At the beginning of the week, the Lebanese government was awaiting data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), including the number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, which it had requested within a week.

Until then, all eyes are on the expected plan the government will put forward in coordination with those involved in the file.

According to LBCI's sources, there is no clear or official data among the official Lebanese authorities on the number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, which delays the start of the plan.

However, the numbers in possession of the General Security, the latest of which was announced by Major General Abbas Ibrahim in November last year, totaling two million and 80 thousand displaced, remain unstable due to the movement of entry and exit to and from Syria, as well as the recent displacement after the February earthquake.

Nevertheless, the Interior and Municipalities Minister, Bassam Mawlawi, will begin a series of meetings starting Tuesday with Brigadier General Bassam al-Baisseri and others involved. He will also meet with governors and mayors to begin the plan's first phase to count the number of displaced persons.

Can Lebanon put the file of displacement in its proper framework and then begin to take practical steps to return them to their country?