Lebanon-Syria contacts ongoing to repatriate refugees

By Wassim Saif al-Din

BEIRUT (AA) - Contacts remain ongoing between the Lebanese and Syrian authorities with a view to repatriating thousands of Syrian refugees, Lebanese General Security Director Abbas Ibrahim said Thursday.

Ibrahim made the assertion while inspecting a security facility in Lebanese capital Beirut.

According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon stood at some 997,000 as of the end of last year.

This figure does not, however, include refugees who are not officially registered with the UNHCR.

Last week, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri voiced concern over Lebanon’s high refugee population.

He also criticized legislation in Syria, which, he claimed, called for the confiscation of refugees’ property if they failed to return to Syria within a certain period of time.