Lebanon uses Arab summit to call for return of Syria refugees

Lebanon is urging world powers to step up efforts for Syrian refugees to return home regardless of a political solution to the conflict in its war-wracked neighbor, as it hosted Sunday an Arab summit

It also proposed the creation of an Arab bank to finance reconstruction in Arab countries devastated by conflicts such as Syria and Yemen.

President Michel Aoun makes the calls at the opening of the fourth annual Arab Economic and Social Development Summit, which was marred by the glaring absence of most Arab heads of state.

“Lebanon calls on the international community to make all efforts possible and provide suitable conditions for a safe return of displaced Syrians… without linking that to a political solution,” Aoun says.

There are currently 5.6 million Syrian refugees living in the region, including around one million born into displacement, according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR.

Lebanon hosts some 1.5 million Syrians who have fled the civil war raging across the border.

— AFP