National News Agency
Foreign Minister, Gebran Bassil, on Monday maintained that the Syrian displacement crisis was a major challenge for the Lebanese, Arabs and Europeans, highlighting the necessity to contributing to securing a safe return for refugees willing to go back home.
"The displacement crisis which we are all facing is a biggest challenge for all of us. If anybody -- whether of you or of us -- thinks that keeping the displaced in the countries neighboring Syria will keep them away, they are mistaken," Bassil said during the EU-Arab League conference in Brussels.
"We respect your particularity, and we expect you to respect ours and not to shame us for being determined to bring the displaced back home," Bassil underlined.
"We do know that the viewpoint on Syria will be unified among you," he said.
"We equally know that the political solution in Syria will be a contentious matter," he added.
"This is a problematic that will not end anytime soon, and together, we will pay the price of the waste of time," he continued.
"Therefore, we invite you to start changing the use of aids you are providing for the displaced to stay in Lebanon," Bassil said, suggesting they be used to secure a safe return instead, pending the political solution.
"Let us not miss the chance of a sustainable solution to the displacement crisis," he stressed.
"Let us work together to devise return plans," he said.
"I tell your people that we and them and the biggest losers if the return is not achieved now," he concluded.
