BEIRUT: Interior Minister Marwan Charbel Sunday said refugees
entering Lebanon illegally escaping violence in their country should be
monitored in a bid to control crime.
“It is important we monitor refugees that are entering the
country illegally due to acts of violence in their country as some of them, at
times, commit theft and murder,” Charbel told Voice of Lebanon radio station in
an interview aired Sunday morning.
Since the uprising in neighboring Syria began in mid March,
thousands of Syrians have crossed into Lebanon through legal and illegal border
crossings, although measures taken by the Syrian and Lebanese armies to control
the border have drastically brought the numbers of refugees.
There are an estimated 3,798 Syrian nationals registered with
the U.N. High Commission for Refugees and Lebanon’s Higher Relief Commission,
the agency said in late November.
Around 750 of those registered are under the age of four, the
biggest age group. The next largest group is made up of children between 5 and
11 years of age.
Many decline to register with the agency fearing they might be
pursued by Syrian authorities.
Charbel also praised the work of the Social Affairs Ministry and
the Higher Relief Committee in aiding a large number of Syrians in Lebanon by
securing all their needs.
The Social Affairs Ministry has repeatedly defended its work
housing refugees in the northern region against criticism.
Charbel also warned against the deepening rift between Lebanon’s
rival political groups that he said might be translated on the ground and
against attempts to incite sectarian strife
Asked about
the return of assassinations in the country, Charbel said: “Lebanon is a
fertile land [for such a thing].”
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2011/Dec-04/155980-charbel-illegal-refugees-should-be-monitored-to-control-crime.ashx#axzz1ffjZuLhc
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