British minister rules out possibility of naturalization of refugees in Lebanon

British Minister for Syrian Refugees Richard Harrington affirmed Tuesday that there is no plan by his country or the international community to settle the huge numbers of Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

The United Kingdom considers the refugees and migrants are temporary guests who should go back home when security is restored to their countries, he said in a statement by the UK embassy.

In his ministerial capacity to coordinate the re-settlement of up to 20,000 of the most vulnerable refugees to the UK via the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement (VPR) scheme, Minister Harrington met refugees departing on a chartered flight from Beirut airport to the UK.

On arrival in the UK, these refugees will be provided with housing, healthcare, English language lessons, education and access to appropriate support services tailored to their individual needs, NNA reported.

During his talks with Lebanese officials, he pledged that Britain will continue offering financial assistance for Lebanon to enable the county accommodate the estimated 1.5 million refugees.

He noted that the British aid amounted to 114 million sterling pounds his year.

Lebanese Minister of Foreign and Expatriates Affairs Gebran Bassil has recently sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to state opposition to a call attributable to the Secretary-General for naturalization of refugees and migrants in host countries, including Lebanon, Kuna reported.