Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi stressed on Sunday that the failure to elect a president destroys Lebanon's unity and makes it an open ground for the naturalization of refugees.
“Refraining from electing a president for over two years now is gradually destroying our internal unity and Lebanon's position at the international level. It makes our country a free ground for the naturalization of refugees,” al-Rahi stated during the Easter mass held in Bkirki.
“Lebanon's officials and people refuse that the return of Syrian refugees is voluntary matter, similar to what happened with the Palestinian refugees,”he added.
“We asked the international bodies that the Syrian and Palestinian refugees return (to their land). That is exactly what we told (U.N. Secretary General) Ban Ki-moon,” he stated.
On Friday, the Patriarch handed the United Nations Secretary General, who was on an official visit to Lebanon, a memo on the ongoing presidential vacuum during talks they held at Bkirki.