An official from the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces disclosed to Al-Monitor in Beirut that the rebels in Syria do not have a plan to resolve the issue of people fleeing into Lebanon. He pointed out that displaced Syrians in Lebanon currently number approximately 250,000, with only 175,000 officially registered. They reside in many different places: with Lebanese families with whom they share family ties; in public institutions; in schools; and some of them have rented housing and found simple occupations to earn a living.
He confirmed that the Lebanese government is not enforcing the law that requires illegal aliens be returned to their native country after being arrested, noting that failure to register as a refugee legally categorizes one as a displaced person.
The opposition official moves freely in Beirut and meets with politicians and figures from the Lebanese opposition forces. He of course shows his satisfaction with the fact that the Lebanese authorities have not placed a ceiling on the number of displaced Syrians allowed into Lebanon, contrary to Turkey and Jordan. This remains the case, despite demands made by Christian politicians — led by Energy Minister Gebran Bassil (the strongman in the Free Patriotic Movement led by Gen. Michel Aoun) and MP Sami Gemayel (the strongman in the Lebanese Phalange Party).
Lebanese Forces Party leader Samir Geagea had distanced himself from this issue, and a spokesman of his recently told Al-Monitor that Geagea refuses to exploit the terrible tragedy of the displaced Syrians in petty political calculations, and thus he refused further comment.
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