Lebanon foreign minister escalates refugee row with UN agency

BEIRUT — Lebanon's caretaker foreign minister escalated his row with the UN refugee agency UNHCR on Wednesday, accusing it at a news conference of working to stop refugees from returning to Syria.

The UNHCR has denied similar accusations, saying it supports the return of refugees when it is safe for them to go back to Syria and helps those who choose to return with their documentation. It had no immediate reaction to the latest accusation.

"Their policy is to forbid the return," Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil said. "The Lebanese policy is to encourage the return. Forbid, encourage. Stop, facilitate. That's it," Bassil said during the news conference in the town of Arsal, where he spoke alongside Syrian refugees. 

"UNHCR does not forbid refugees from returning," Rula Amin, the UNHCR's MENA region spokesperson said in emailed comments to Reuters. "UNHCR's policy is clear on this matter: we respect people's free choices to return." 

"UNHCR is not the obstacle to the return, the obstacles lay elsewhere and in the complex situation on the ground," Amin said, adding that the UNHCR recognises the challenges Lebanon faces in hosting Syrian refugees.

The UN has registered about a million refugees in Lebanon — nearly a quarter of Lebanon's population. The Lebanese government, which puts the figure at 1.5 million, says it wants them to start going back to territory where fighting is over.

Bassil said on Wednesday the burden of hosting Syrian refugees seven years into the conflict that drove them to flee had grown "unbearable", blaming the crisis for the collapse of the economy and emigration of Lebanese citizens.

Last week, Bassil ordered a freeze on applications by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for residency permits for its staff, saying it was intimidating refugees into staying in Lebanon.

Some 19 UNHCR staff members are affected by the Lebanese residency permit freeze, she said, and the agency's spokesman in Geneva said it hopes the decision will be reversed.

Bassil accuses the UNHCR of discouraging refugees from going home by asking them questions about potential difficulties they face upon return, including possible military conscription, damage to housing and lack of UN support in parts of Syria. 

"I don't want to have disputes with them, but it's time to tell them enough," he said.

The UNHCR favoured the return of all refugees when it was safe for them to go home, its Lebanon representative, Mireille Girard, told Reuters on Tuesday. It speaks to refugees in all countries when they are preparing to return home to make sure it can give them enough support and protection, she said. 

Another senior UN official, the deputy special coordinator for Lebanon Philippe Lazzarini, was quoted late on Tuesday as saying it would be "inconceivable" for the body to oppose refugees who wanted to go home. 

"We respect refugees' individual decision to return home and would never, never discourage the return from taking place based on their decision," Hariri's office quoted Lazzarini as saying during a meeting. 

Lebanon's government is operating on a caretaker basis because prime minister designate Saad Al Hariri has not yet formed a new Cabinet after parliamentary elections on May 6.