Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Monday urged Lebanese authorities to “open the sea” to migrant boats to put pressure on Europe, accused in Lebanon of wanting to keep displaced Syrians in the country. In a televised address, Hassan Nasrallah called for “a national decision” for’“open the sea” For “anyone who wants to leave for Europe, for Cyprus”, the European Union country closest to the coasts of the Middle East. However, he assured that he did not want “forcing displaced Syrians onto boats” And “leave”.
Lebanon, mired in a deep economic crisis since 2019 and which says it hosts nearly two million Syrian refugees, the largest ratio per capita in the world, continues to urge the international community to repatriate them. Some Lebanese politicians blame Syrians for their country’s worsening situation, and pressure is mounting ahead of an annual conference on Syria in Brussels on May 27.
Fight against illegal immigration
At the beginning of May, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced in Beirut aid of one billion euros, in particular to fight against illegal immigration, a decision criticized by many Lebanese who believe that it aims to keep Syrians in Lebanon. Currently, these “are prohibited (from leaving) and therefore turn to smuggling and inflatable boats, and there are drownings at sea, because the Lebanese army is implementing a political decision aimed at preventing them from emigrating”the leader of the powerful Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah said on Monday.
Hassan Nasrallah also urged the Lebanese Parliament to pressure the European Union and Washington to lift sanctions on Syria that Damascus says are blocking aid and reconstruction efforts. Lebanon must tell the West that “We must all coordinate with the Syrian government to return displaced people to Syria and provide them with assistance there.”, he added. These declarations come the day before the resumption of “voluntary returns” of Syrians from Lebanon, a year and a half after these returns were interrupted.
Human rights defenders highlight the risk of possible arbitrary arrests and acts of torture upon their return. The war in Syria, launched in 2011 after the government’s repression of pro-democracy demonstrations, has left more than half a million dead and millions displaced.