BEIRUT, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Monday warned that Lebanon will resort to legal means to return Syrian refugees to their homeland if the international community fails to help, according to a statement by the Council of Ministers.
"I call on the international community to cooperate with Lebanon to return the displaced Syrians to their country. Otherwise, Lebanon will adopt an undesirable stance toward western countries by working on removing Syrians from Lebanon by legal means," Mikati said during a conference also attended by Lebanese Minister for Social Affairs Hector Hajjar and the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon Najat Rochdi.
The conference launched the 2022-2023 Lebanon Crisis Response Plan, a multi-stakeholder plan co-led by the Lebanese government and the United Nations that aims to assist the 1.5 million Lebanese in need, 1.5 million displaced Syrians and more than 209,000 Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.
At the conference, the Lebanese government and its national and international partners appealed for 3.2 billion U.S. dollars to deliver critical assistance to people in need and to support Lebanon's public infrastructure, services and local economy.
"With the continuing impact of the Syria crisis and the current economic crisis in Lebanon pushing everyone to the brink, partners' joint efforts to support refugees and the host community through the Lebanon Crisis Response Plan remain essential," said Rochdi, the UN envoy.
"Nine out of 10 Syrians in Lebanon are living in poverty, and the poverty levels have also risen substantially for Lebanese, migrants and Palestinians. These circumstances are driving negative coping mechanisms, as families are forced to send their children to work instead of school, skip meals or incur debt," she noted. ■
