Jumblat Downplays Fears over Naturalization of Refugees

Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat downplayed the latest fears that arose on the possibility of naturalizing Syrian refugees in Lebanon, and stressed that we must not waste the opportunity presented by the World Bank and the United Nations to cope with the refugee burden.

“I do not see (any intentions of) naturalization and I cannot find any reason for resorting to extreme theories. I believe that when the situation stabilizes in Syria, the refugees will return,” Jumblat told As Safir daily in an interview.

Concerns that refugees could be naturalized in Lebanon arose after Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil warned late last week that there are indirect efforts to give the Lebanese nationality to displaced Syrians.

He urged during a press conference for “the adoption of unilateral and sovereign steps, otherwise naturalization will be imposed on us,” he said.

His comments triggered a series of reactions that assured the issue has not been suggested by international bodies.

On the World Bank and the United Nations offer to grant funds to improve the situation of the Syrian refugees and the hosting country, Jumblat stressed the necessity “not to waste this opportunity.”

The World Bank and Islamic Development Bank have signed agreements worth hundreds of millions of dollars to help Lebanon cope with the large number of Syrian refugees who were displaced by their country's civil war.

The announcement was made after a meeting last week between Prime Minister Tammam Salam and visiting U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim and Islamic Development Bank President Ahmad Mohamed Ali al-Madani.

Lebanon is home to more than 1 million registered Syrian refugees, or nearly a quarter of the country's 4.5 million people. Lebanon says that another half a million Syrians live in the country as well.

On the controversial electoral law, Jumblat noted that an agreement over the issue seems not to be possible at the time being which highlights the priority to “elect a president so he would have a say in the matter.”

A parliamentary committee that was set up in 2015 to devise a new electoral law was given a period of two months to reach an agreement.

Disputes among the rival political parties over the matter forced parliament to extend its term the first time in 2013 and a second time in 2014.

D.A.

G.K.