BEIRUT, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese authorities will implement a new plan to solve the Syrian refugee crisis within their borders if the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) continues to delay the delivery of data on Syrian refugees in the country, said Elias al-Baysari, director-general of Lebanon's General Security, on Wednesday.
"We asked the UNHCR again to provide us with complete data about refugees present on our lands; if not provided, we will implement a plan B, which has become ready now," al-Baysari said at a cabinet meeting.
In August 2023, Lebanon concluded an agreement with the UNHCR to share data related to all Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
To this date, the UNHCR has not delivered the data, which include the names of Syrian refugees, their registration dates in Lebanon, and their specific regions of origin in Syria, according to Lebanese authorities.
Plan B, drafted by al-Baysari, includes setting up a data center to count the number of Syrian displaced individuals in Lebanon, establishing detention centers to apprehend offenders and repatriate them, and mandating Syrian refugees registered before 2015 to visit General Security centers for application completion.
Lebanese authorities have on many occasions urged the international community to assist Lebanon in returning Syrian refugees to their country. The Lebanese government estimates that the country hosts about 2 million Syrian refugees, which weighs heavily on the country's infrastructure. ■
