Makhlouf discusses with the Lebanese Minister of the Displaced plan to return displaced Syrians home

On August 15th, the Minister of Local Administration and Environment, Hussein Makhlouf, met with the Minister of the Displaced in the Lebanese caretaker government Issam Sharaf El-Din and the accompanying delegation. 

The two sides discussed the plan set by the Lebanese side to return the displaced Syrians to their homes and the measures taken by the Syrian side to provide a safe and quick return for them according to specific timetables by both sides.

Minister Makhlouf confirmed in a statement to reporters after the meeting that there is a consensus in the vision between the Syrian and Lebanese sides regarding the return of all refugees, not just 15,000 displaced persons per month, as stated in the plan presented by the Lebanese side. 

Minister Makhlouf said that the amnesty decrees that were issued included all Syrians in addition to facilitating and simplifying procedures in the border areas, and providing services for returnees, like transportation, relief, humanitarian aid, medical care, education, and others, to provide them with a safe and comfortable stay. 

Minister Makhlouf reiterated that one of the Syrian state’s priorities is to create conditions for the return of all Syrians to their homes and to rebuild the infrastructure in the areas liberated by the Syrian Arab Army. 

Minister Makhlouf called on the United Nations organizations to be an active partner in the return of the displaced, especially that the Syrian side is open to cooperation with the Lebanese side and others to facilitate the return of all the displaced and to have an active role in the reconstruction. 

The Lebanese minister, for his part, noted the consensus and cooperation shown by the Syrian side towards the plan for the return of the displaced Syrians who are in Lebanon. 

The Lebanese minister said: “The plan was discussed in precise  details and the Syrian state expressed its readiness to receive all those wishing to return with a pledge to provide all their requirements of aid, services, accommodation, medical care, education and others.”

The Lebanese minister expressed his thanks to the Syrian leadership for the issuance of the recent presidential pardon decree.

The Lebanese minister pointed out that the stage of recovery that Syria began to witness contributed to reducing the number of temporary residence centers from 532 to 58 centers distributed in all Syrian regions, which helps in providing a safe return for the displaced Syrians. 

The Lebanese minister said that the next stage will witness successive visits and multiple meetings with the Syrian side to start achieving the first phase of the plan, after preparing the necessary statistical studies for the return of the displaced to safe villages and towns, even if the number exceeded more than 15,000 displaced persons.

O. al-Mohammad