BEIRUT, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Lebanese Foreign Affairs Ministry announced Tuesday that it refuses a UN official's statement about the impossibility of Syrian refugees' return to their homeland in the current security situation.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi declared on Monday that he is against the return of Syrian refugees to their homeland in the midst of the current dangerous situation.
"A gradual return of Syrian refugees from Lebanon to their homeland is possible," said the ministry in a statement published by Elnashra, an independent online newspaper.
The statement added that the ministry has previously asked the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to adopt a program that would guarantee a safe return for refugees.
"We call upon Grandi to assess the security situation in Syria in an objective manner by relying on reports of international security systems which state that the situation has become stable in many Syrian cities," it said.
Few weeks ago, Syrian refugees started returning to Syria from Shabaa and Aarsal in Lebanon.
More than one million Syrian refugees are registered with the UNHCR in Lebanon. The government estimated the true number of Syrians in the country to be 1.5 million.
