By Daily Star,
Labor Minister Sejaan Azzi Monday threatened to expel Swedes working in Lebanon if Stockholm follows through with its reported plan to deport dozens of Lebanese families. In
a message to Swedish Ambassador to Lebanon Peter Semneby, Azzi demanded
an explanation over the Lebanese Foreign Ministry’s claim that Sweden
was preparing to deport around 70 Lebanese families.
“If the
deportation was legally unjustified then Lebanon’s Labor Ministry will
take similar measures against Swedish workers in Lebanon, whatever their
occupation and status are,” Azzi said in a statement issued by his
press office. Reports circulated earlier this year that Sweden and Finland had decided to deport up to 100,000 immigrant workers who had been living in their countries for many years to make room for Syrian refugees. Semneby flatly denied those allegations in June, however Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil has continued to bring the issue up.
“Sweden
has not deported anyone for the purpose of making room for new Syrian
refugees, and will not do so,” Semneby said in a letter published in The
Daily Star at that time.
“If the Foreign Ministry is responsible
for Lebanese there (in Sweden), then the Labor Ministry is responsible
for them when they return to the country, which increases the number of
unemployed Lebanese in the country,” Azzi said.
In this regard, Azzi said his ministry was gathering the names of Swedes employed in Lebanon.
“We
will take this measure against any state that doesn’t respect Lebanese
expats, unless their presence is illegal or poses a security threat,”
the statement added.
Azzi called on all Lebanese outside Lebanon
to respect the rules and regulations in their countries of residence,
especially those living in the Gulf.
Lebanon hosts the highest number of refugees in the world, per
capita. There are more than 1 million Syrians registered with UNHCR, the
U.N.’s refugee agency for Syrians, in the country.
About another 450,000 Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA, the refugee agency for Palestinians, in Lebanon.
In
addition to the Syrian and Palestinian refugees, around another 30,000
Iraqi refugees are sheltering in Lebanon, according to the U.N.
