Patriarch Says Syrian Refugees Are a ‘Total Danger for Lebanon’

by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D.

The Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Bechara Raï, has urged Lebanon’s government to repatriate Syrian refugees, who have become “a total danger” for the country.

“We cannot wait for a political solution in Syria to launch this process, as desired by some policy makers who have themselves had a hand in the destruction inflicted on Syria by the war,” the cardinal said.

Raï spoke these words in a welcome address Wednesday to the newly elected members of the Maronite League Executive Council, who visited him under the leadership of their new President Nehmetallah Abi Nasr.

The cardinal’s position on the issue aligns with that of Lebanese President Michel Aoun, who told the U.N. ambassador to Syria, Geir Pedersen, on Wednesday that “we have reached the limit of our capacity” in dealing with the Syrian refugees.

The matter of Syrian refugees in Lebanon was at the heart of discussions between the two men, with President Aoun insisting that Lebanon could no longer sustain the presence of the refugees, while the U.N. ambassador countered by saying that the international community continues to link the refugee question to a resolution of Syria political situation.

full story at https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2019/03/21/patriarch-says-syrian-refugees-are-a-total-danger-for-lebanon/