BEIRUT, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab said on Tuesday that Syrian refugees' residence in Lebanon is temporary and should not, under any circumstances, be interpreted as local integration, the National News Agency reported.
"This is a sovereign decision... Moreover, resettlement violates Lebanon's constitution," Diab told the fifth Brussels Conference on Syria via video link.
Diab said during the conference, which was co-chaired by the European Union and the United Nations, that Syrian refugees cost Lebanon around 46.5 billion U.S. dollars, according to estimates by the Lebanese Ministry of Finance for the period extending between 2011 and 2018.
Diab stressed the need for the international community to give a chance to the Lebanese government's plan for the gradual return of displaced Syrians, which was approved by Lebanon on July 14, 2020.
More than 1 million Syrian refugees are registered with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Lebanon, while the Lebanese government estimated the true number of Syrians in the country at 1.5 million. Enditem