Saniora: No to Naturalization of Palestinians
Premier Fouad Saniora on Tuesday reiterated rejection to naturalizing Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, and said the northern refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared will be rebuilt and placed under state authority.
“All the Lebanese have agreed on the rejection of naturalization…which should not be used as a scarecrow to instigate strife among the Lebanese and between them and the Palestinians,” Saniora said during a press conference to announce the camp”s reconstruction plan.
“The camp will be under the sovereignty of the Lebanese state,” he stressed.
The launching of the reconstruction plan comes as part of the government”s commitment to rebuild the camp and insistence on the Palestinians” rights of return, he said.
“The Nahr al-Bared battle wasn”t a Lebanese-Palestinian clash, on the contrary it led to a Lebanese-Palestinian agreement against a group of criminals,” said Saniora.
He said around 1500 families have returned to the camp”s new section and that reparation works were underway there. The next phase will focus on full reconstruction in cooperation with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), he said.
The Lebanese army crushed Fatah al-Islam in September after 15 weeks of fierce battles. The majority of Nahr al-Bared”s 30,000 refugees were forced to flee the camp at the onset of the fighting with the al-Qaida-inspired group in May.
Families began returning in October to the newest part of the seafront camp which was not as devastated as the old section.
“The moment battles erupted…the only concern of the Lebanese government, the Lebanese army and all security forces was to protect” civilians in the old and new sectors of the camp, Saniora said.
When the “terrorists” continued their attacks, the government had no choice but to “finish off” Fatah al-Islam whose aim was to create instability and a confrontation between the Lebanese and Palestinians, Saniora added.
“There were huge losses at all levels” that”s why we launched a campaign to rebuild the old camp, Saniora said.
“The era of destruction has elapsed” and we will continue the path of reconstruction despite assassinations and attempts to terrorize us, the prime minister stressed.