Lebanese President Michel Sleiman warned that Lebanon could no longer host Syrian refugees escaping violence in their homeland
Lebanese President Michel Sleiman warned that Lebanon could no longer host Syrian refugees escaping violence in their homeland during a meeting with the ambassadors of the permanent members of the UN Security Council in Beirut on Friday.
Sleiman urged the world body to pay more attention to the burden that the influx of Syrian refugees has had on Lebanon, rejecting "any foreign military intervention in Syria and any Lebanese intervention in the Syrian crisis."
"This stance was taken by the Lebanese government and the president is keen on implementing it in coordination with the prime minister," Sleiman added.
"The statements voiced every now and then, whichever side they may come from, do not reflect the Lebanese official stance on the Syrian crisis," he told the envoys.
He also called for equal responsibility of receiving the refugees, tightening the control of refugee status, hosting refugees inside Syria, and increasing the international aids to the Lebanese government in this regard.