The Directorate of Public Security in Beirut has banned Palestinian refugees who are stranded abroad from returning to Lebanon, Al-Watan Voice reported on Monday.
Domestic workers are also included in the banning directive.
Further to the circular issued by the General Directorate of Lebanese Public Security issued on 01/05/2020 No. 5932 / AD, which stipulates that no return to Lebanon should be permitted on evacuation aircraft for Palestinian refugees and servants.
1/2— Gaz (@gaz199ah) May 4, 2020
Staff at Middle East Airlines, Lebanon’s national carrier, have been asked not to let such refugees or workers board their aircraft taking Lebanese citizens home during the coronavirus crisis. The refugees are mainly the spouses of Lebanese citizens or their children.
According to Sputnik, many of the Palestinians who prepared themselves to return to Lebanon on an MEA flight were told that their names were now deleted from the lists of those registered to travel. The Russian news agency called the directive “unjustified and illogical” given that they have no alternative destination available.
My latest. Is there a plot to depopulate Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon? https://t.co/Cob3EBzXKW pic.twitter.com/Cmk1K1ikJM
— Ramzy Baroud (@RamzyBaroud) December 17, 2018
Lebanon’s Al-Akhbar reported one Palestinian refugee from Lebanon whose mother is Lebanese, and who is married to a Lebanese citizen, being dragged off a flight by security staff at Dubai Airport after it was discovered that he himself is not Lebanese.
“Ignoring the miserable plight of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon is now coming at a heavy price,” wrote Palestinian author and editor of The Palestine Chronicle, Ramzy Baroud, in a recent article.
“Relegating their plight to ‘final status negotiations’, a pipe dream that never materialized, is now leading to a severe crisis,” Baroud added.
(Palestine Chronicle, MEMO, Social Media)
