Lebanon: UN official supports improved conditions for refugees

The top United Nations refugee official has wrapped up a visit to Lebanon by urging authorities to improve conditions for refugees living there, while urging the governments in Iraq and elsewhere to create conditions so that the displaced can return to their homelands.

Some 9,200 refugees in Lebanon, mostly from Iraq and Sudan, are registered with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), while the country also has a long-standing population of nearly half a million displaced Palestinians.

Lebanon is not a signatory of the 1951 Refugee Convention – the key legal document in defining who is a refugee, their rights and the legal obligations of States – and as such does not itself register refugees.

Speaking to journalists this week, the High Commissioner António Guterres stressed the agency’s commitment to find durable solutions for the registered refugees, including resettlement, but urged flexibility in addressing the cases.

“Usually people want to go back home where their roots are. But conflicts are resilient and for many, their only hope is resettlement,” he said, noting that while UNHCR was making progress in a lot of cases, it could take years to complete the process and some people might never return home.

“The establishment of a non-denominational government in Iraq is the best way to help improve security and allow the refugees to return home with dignity,” Mr. Guterres said after visiting the Amel housing facility in Beirut, the Lebanese capital. He added that the current state of security in Iraq “does not permit the return of refugees”.

Mr. Guterres said he was concern about the uncertain status of many refugees in Lebanon and their risk of arrest, detention and deportation.

“Detention should only be used in exceptional circumstances when there are security concerns,” he said, according to a press release issued today by the agency.

During his two-day visit, Mr. Guterres met with Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, Prime Minister Saad Hariri and other senior officials and lawmakers to discuss challenges faced with providing for the refugee groups.

He arrived in Lebanon from Syria, where the UNHCR announced that 100,000 Iraqi refugees have been referred for resettlement from the Middle East to third countries since 2007.