Date: Aug 23, 2018 Source: The Daily Star Lebanon should not be a hostage to Syria crisis: Lavrov Gasia Trtrian| The Daily Star BEIRUT: Lebanon should not be hostage to the Syrian crisis, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday in a joint news conference where he discussed refugee returns with his Lebanese counterpart Gebran Bassil. “We agreed to increase bilateral communication on some ways to coordinate. We have a common belief to make sure that Lebanon is not a hostage of the Syrian crisis,” Lavrov said during the televised remarks in Moscow that followed a meeting with Bassil, Lebanon’s caretaker Foreign Minister. “We talked about the return of [Syrian] refugees and how they can return in a safe and dignified manner,” Lavrov added. He also criticized opposition to the return of refugees, claiming “fabricated” reasons were being cited to stop returns as a cover to hinder reconstruction in Syria. Lavrov accused the United States of only being interested in rebuilding the parts of Syria where the opposition to Syrian President Bashar Assad remained active. Bassil reiterated Lavrov’s position, adding that “Lebanon refuses to tie the return of the refugees to the political solution [in Syria].” He lauded Russia’s efforts to find a solution to the Syrian refugee crisis. “The Russian proposal is the first international proposal that encourages the return of refugees and Lebanon is committed to it fully. We discussed an enduring, open-ended communication between our ministries to ensure the success of this proposal,” he said. Bassil highlighted Lebanon’s need to play a role in rebuilding Syria for its “economic regeneration.” He also spoke of the need to strengthen bilateral ties with Russia, especially economically and militarily. Before the news conference, local media reported that Lavrov said Lebanon’s issues need to be resolved without foreign intervention. Bassil is the fourth Lebanese politician to visit Moscow in recent weeks as Russia steps up its bid to find a solution to the Syrian refugee crisis. In an interview airing from Moscow with Russian news channel RT, Bassil said Lebanon had seen the largest portion of refugee returns in the region, topping Jordan. According to a statement from his ministry, Bassil expressed Lebanon’s willingness to coordinate with Russia and Syria, as well as the U.N. refugee agency if it changes “its view [of] rejecting the principle of refugee returns.” Bassil has been at odds with the U.N. agency, accusing it of discouraging Syrian refugees from returning home. “No one has interests in Lebanon’s economic collapse because of the refugee crisis. We call on the UNHCR to develop its stance,” Bassil said. In a set of proposals made to Lavrov, Bassil suggested the Syrian government decrease the age range for compulsory military service, which currently obliges men between the ages of 18 to 42 to serve, thereby paving the way for more returns. The Lebanese official also criticized the approach of international programs that fund refugees to stay in their host countries, and instead suggested funds be allocated for returns. In a bid to encourage dialogue between the two countries, the pair agreed on forming a committee to organize a conference in either Beirut or Moscow that will work on enhancing security and stability, as well as combating terrorism and extremism. The decision falls in line with views Lavrov expressed during the meeting. The Russian minister urged for leaving the Lebanese “to solve their problems with dialogue, without external interference.” As for Russia’s role, Bassil said the country was “not interfering in Lebanon’s internal matters, but enhancing regional stability.” In July, the Russian Defense Ministry announced it had sent a proposal to the U.S. for a joint plan to return refugees that included establishing working groups in Lebanon and Jordan involving U.S. and Russian officials. Lebanon has welcomed the proposal, and high-level meetings between Lebanese and Russian delegations have since been held on the matter. Although many of Lebanon’s officials have lauded the initiative, caretaker Minister of State for Refugee Affairs Mouin Merehbi said the Russian proposal was still “in its first stages,” adding that it “needs more work ... and money.” In comments published in An-Nahar newspaper Monday, Merehbi added his ministry had not received a draft of the proposal. “It’s unclear and there is no serious agreement on [the Russian proposal],” Merehbi said, stressing that agreements between Russian, U.S. and European officials were necessary to go forward. The Russian Defense Ministry had announced that over 1.7 million Syrian refugees would be able to return to their homeland in the near future, including a possible 890,000 from Lebanon. However, Merehbi told An-Nahar he thought it was more realistic to expect around 300,000 Syrian refugees around the world to return to their homes, and out of this number, 100,000 from Lebanon. Although the UNHCR has been present on the ground during return operations organized by Lebanon’s General Security, it has repeatedly announced that it “cannot encourage” the return of refugees, saying it is too early for mass repatriation due to security concerns. Bassil earlier this year froze residency permits for UNHCR employees after a dispute, calling on the agency change its stance. Last month, Bassil’s party, the Free Patriotic Movement, launched its central committee for the return of refugees, saying they posed a threat to Lebanon’s identity and economy. “Our basic case is the preservation of [Lebanese] identity,” Bassil said. “We don’t want what happened with the Palestinians to happen with the Syrians.” Just under 1 million Syrian refugees are currently registered in Lebanon with the UNHCR, representing an estimated quarter of Lebanon’s population, though officials have put the number closer to 1.5 million. The UNHCR has not registered any new Syrian refugees since 2015 as per the Lebanese government’s instructions. There are no official camps in Lebanon for Syrian refugees, in contrast to the situation for the country’s over 170,000 Palestinian refugees, many of whom live in 12 official camps. A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily Star on August 21, 2018, on page 1.