Christian Front of Lebanon welcomes proposal by Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria to host Syrian refugees from Lebanon

BEIRUT / NORTH AND EAST SYRIA — The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) has launched an initiative to take in Syrian refugees from Lebanon and bring them to its territories.

The Christian Front in Lebanon has welcomed the move, which seeks to address the Syrian crisis and alleviate the burden on Lebanon. The Front has urged the Lebanese government to take the initiative seriously and initiate negotiations with the United Nations to secure a safe crossing for refugees from Lebanon to North and East Syria, while also calling for an end to the activities of suspicious organizations that receive funding to integrate Syrian refugees into Lebanese society.

According to the Secretary-General of the Christian Front and President of the Universal Syriac Union Party (USUP) Ibrahim Mrad, this is not the first such initiative. A similar proposal was made by the AANES in 2017 but received little attention from Lebanese political parties.

The Front has stressed that the prolonged stay of Syrian refugees in Lebanon poses a significant risk to the stability of Lebanon and negatively affects the already precarious Christian presence in the country. It has called on all Lebanese communities to come together to adopt a federal system that promotes true coexistence and preserves pluralism in all its forms.