FNA - Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem revealed that the UN, under the pressure of certain countries, wants to prevent the Syrian refugees from returning home from Lebanon in a bid to use their presence as an instrument against the government in Damascus.

"One of the European officials has revealed this issue which means that they want to use the issue of the refugees in Lebanon as a political leverage against the Syrian government and claim that the government should be blamed for the wave of refugees leaving their country and therefore, facilitate adoption of international resolutions against it," Qassem was quoted as saying by the Arabic-language al-Nashrah news website on Sunday.


Warning that the UN and certain world powers are impeding refugees return to their country, he called on the Lebanese government to negotiate on the issue with the government in Damascus.


There are 1 million Syrian refugees currently registered with the United Nations’ refugee agency in Lebanon, although the Lebanese government places the total figure of resident Syrian refugees at close to 1.5 million.


Refugees sign a pledge not to work in Lebanon, but the minimal assistance they receive forces them to look for jobs. They are often exploited by business owners to accept underpaid work.