Oct 3, 2023
Hassan Nasrallah, the head of the pro-Iran group Hezbollah, said Lebanon should stop preventing Syrians from leaving Lebanon to the EU, as Lebanon experiences a surge in migration from Syria.
Nasrallah said that Lebanon should stop preventing Syrian refugees from leaving the country by sea and instead equip them with proper boats and help facilitate their passage to Europe.
“The European Countries will come running to Beirut, to the Serail, and ask the government: ‘What do you want to stop this migration of refugees towards Europe?'” Nasrallah said.
The speech came as Lebanon experienced a huge uptick of Syrians crossing the border into the country, seeking to escape the violence of the Assad regime and the worsening economic conditions in Syria.
The Lebanese army has called for increased resources and soldiers to address the surge, as it said the 394-kilometer border with Syria is currently impossible to guard.
Nasrallah claimed that the US is responsible for displacing Syrian refugees, blaming US sanctions for undermining the Syrian economy.
“If the Caesar [Sanctions] Act is lifted and the doors are opened to investments, hundreds of thousands of Syrians will return to their country,” Nasrallah said.
Continue reading at www.newarab.com
Lifting US sanctions on Syria can save Lebanon: Hezbollah chief
Oct 3, 2023
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah said in a speech on 2 October that lifting US sanctions would allow for the repatriation of hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees from Lebanon.
“Those who believe that the Syrian displacement threatens Lebanon’s existence must tell Washington that revoking the Caesar Act saves Lebanon,” Nasrallah said, adding that “if the Caesar Act is canceled, hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees will return to their homeland.”
The Hezbollah leader also said that the US “is the primary culprit behind the Syrian refugee crisis,” and that Washington’s “terrorist war” in the country is the reason behind the displacement of Syrians.
“The US ambassador to Beirut interrogates Lebanese security chiefs if they order the return of any Syrians to their homeland … [They] answer her rude questions in fear of sanctions,” he said in reference to US ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea.
Lebanese officials have, for the past two years, increasingly complained of US interference in the refugee repatriation process between Beirut and Damascus, with some claiming that Washington and the EU forbid the return of refugees from Lebanon to Syria for political reasons.
Continue reading at new.thecradle.co
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