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-President Michel Aoun wrote on the X platform:
“In light of recent developments—including the reduction of the refugee commission’s role in Lebanon, the decline in donor funding, and the deportation programs that several European countries have already begun implementing—it has become imperative for the Lebanese authorities to revoke the displacement status of Syrians, which renders the presence of nearly 80% of them unlawful.
This step requires the government to radically revise its policy: moving beyond the framework of voluntary return programs, and instead adopting and executing immediate deportation measures for Syrian refugees.
Just as we have always rejected procrastination, bargaining, and linking the return of the displaced to a political solution, we once again affirm today—now that the former regime has collapsed and the justification for their displacement no longer exists—that we reject any further delays, political trade-offs, or submission to campaigns of intimidation or enticement from any side.”