Lebanese minister says Syria promises to facilitate refugees' return

Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-19 22:52:42|Editor: Mu Xuequan
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BEIRUT, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Lebanese State Minister for Refugee Affairs said on Tuesday that the Syrian authorities have promised to facilitate the return of Syrian refugees, National News Agency (NNA) reported.

"The meeting in Syria was very positive and the Syrian authorities showed great readiness to offer the needed facilities for the return of refugees," Saleh al-Gharib was quoted by NNA as saying.

He made the remarks during his meeting with Lebanese President Michel Aoun about his visit to Syria a day earlier.

Gharib visited Syria on Monday and discussed with Syria's Minister of Local Administration Hussein Makhlouf the ways for the return of Syrian refugees.

"We hope to be able to keep Syrian refugees' issue away from political disagreements because it is a very sensitive issue while it has tremendous economic and social repercussions on Lebanon," Gharib said.

However, ministerial sources said Gharib did not get an official approval frim Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri to visit Syria over the issue of refugees, local newspaper Asharq al-Awsat reported Tuesday.

More than 1 million Syrian refugees are registered with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Lebanon, while the government estimates the true number of Syrians in the country at 1.5 million.

Hariri has been handling the refugee crisis on the basis of a strategy drafted by Russia, after a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump last year in Helsinki, capital of Finland.

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