Lebanon to Present Unified Stance on Syrian Refugee Crisis at Brussels Conference

A report by Nada Andraos, English adaptation by Nadine Sassine

On Monday, Lebanon will participate in the eighth edition of the Brussels Conference dedicated to Syria, but this time with a different approach and content.

The delegation, led by Caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib and comprising diplomats and officials from the Foreign Ministry, will present a document detailing the numbers and impacts of displacement on Lebanon.

The delegation will convey to the international community Lebanon’s unified stance on addressing the refugee crisis and rejecting their continued stay.

This position is based on:

Recommendations issued by the Parliament and decisions made by the Cabinet since April 2023, including measures taken by the government to distinguish between legal and illegal residents, deport the illegal ones, control the borders, and other actions that the delegation will inform the conference Lebanon is committed to implementing.

In addition to Lebanon's file to Brussels, a document prepared by the Prime Minister's economic advisor, Samir Daher, addresses the "refugee issue with the aim of their return to their country and the preservation of Lebanese identity."

This document outlines the severe consequences of displacement on Lebanon with figures and demographic realities, the legal status of Syrians in Lebanon between registered and unregistered individuals, and the required measures from Lebanon: removing the refugee status from those crossing the official borders back and forth, deporting convicts, subjecting those not listed by UNHCR to residency and labor laws and commercial practices, deporting illegal residents, and most importantly, initiating the return of all refugees to their mostly safe homeland.

With this summary, Bou Habib will deliver Lebanon's speech, relying not only on internal unity but also on a renewed European stance supported by Cyprus. Eight EU member states—Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Italy, Malta, and Poland—have expressed support for Cyprus's proposal to declare safe zones in Syria and allow the return of refugees to these areas.

ased on this foundation, Lebanon might be able to impose its terms, unless it faces rejection from some countries, which is possible given that a solution to the Syrian crisis has yet to be fully developed.