Beirut [Lebanon], August 18: Lebanese President Michel Aoun said on Wednesday that Lebanon will never accept the permanent settlement of displaced Syrians inside the country and will prevent it "at all costs," according to a statement by Lebanon's Presidency.
"We completely reject any attempts to settle displaced Syrians in Lebanon as we previously did with the settlement of Palestinians on our land," Aoun told visiting Canadian Minister of International Development Harjit Singh Sajjan.
Lebanon is preparing a legal study on the issue of Syrians' displacement and will submit it to the United Nations to secure support from "friendly countries" for Lebanon in sending refugees back to their homeland, according to the Lebanese president.
Lebanon can no longer bear the economic, social, health and security burdens from the 1.5 million displaced Syrians on its territories, Aoun warned.
For his part, Sajjan said Canada does not support the integration of the displaced into their host communities, and will continue to help solve the Syrian refugees' crisis.
On Monday, Syrian and Lebanese officials discussed in Damascus, capital of Syria, ways to facilitate the monthly return of 15,000 Syrian refugees from Lebanon in a timeline agreed upon by both countries.
Source: Xinhua