Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Friday (February 3rd) urged the international community to facilitate the return of Syrian refugees to safe zones in their homeland, Lebanon's Naharnet reported.
"Establishing safe zones in Syria in collaboration with the Syrian government helps the return of the displaced," he said during a meeting in Beirut with UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi.
Lebanon does not intend to obligate any Syrian refugees to return under unstable security conditions, he said, but noted that "displaced Syrians could not stay in Lebanon forever".
Grandi stressed that the UNHCR will continue to provide assistance to Lebanon and to Syrian refugees in that country, the National News Agency reported.
"We will continue asking the international institutions to help Lebanon more at the economic level, because the presence of the refugees influences the general economic situation in Lebanon," Grandi said following his meeting with Aoun.
"We hope to reach a political solution as a start to restore stability in Syria and to secure the return of the refugees to their country," he added.
