Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi called on Sunday for the return of Syrian refugees to their homeland, saying the absence of such a decision has become a conspiracy against Lebanon's entity, unity, identity and security.
“We demand the return of the displaced Syrians to their homeland,” he said while presiding over Sunday Mass in Bkirki.
The Patriarch warned that the number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon has exceeded one and a half million, or at least 35 percent of the country’s population.
He said that resolving this issue calls for urgency, especially with the outbreak of war in Ukraine and the emergence of new waves of displacement in Europe and the world.
Rahi also stressed the importance of Lebanon's neutrality, which is at the core of its identity, and which is based on avoiding alliances, axes, political conflicts and regional and international wars.
