Michel Aoun address to the UN General Assembly (73rd session), 26 Sep 2018 (English translation of Arabic original)

In Lebanon, we are groping our way to rise from the consecutive crises that struck us at various levels.

In security, Lebanon managed to consolidate its security and stability after having abolished the agglomerations of terrorists from its Eastern and Northern barrens, and after having dismantled their sleeper cells.

In politics, Lebanon held its parliamentary elections according to a law based on proportionality for the first time in its history, which led to a fairer representation of all the components of the Lebanese society. Today, the formation of a government is under way, based on the outcome of the elections.

In economy, the guidelines of an economic recovery plan which take into account the resolutions of the CEDRE Conference, based on activating the productive sectors, modernizing the infrastructure, and bridging the gap between revenues and expenses in the budget.

Nevertheless, the neighborhood's crises still weigh heavily upon us with their consequences.

With the break out of the events in Syria, the displacement waves fleeing the hell of war began to pour into Lebanon, which tried, to the greatest extent possible, to ensure the conditions of a dignified decent life for the displaced. Yet, their large numbers and their fallout on the Lebanese society from various perspectives — from a security perspective through the increase in regular crime rate to more than 30%, economically through the increase of the unemployment rate to 21%, demographically through the increase in population density from 400 to 600 people per square kilometer — in addition to our limited resources, and the scarce international assistance for Lebanon, makes it impossible for us to keep shouldering this burden, especially that most of the Syrian territories have become safe.

I therefore called for the safe return in my address from this very rostrum last year, and I differentiated between the safe return and the voluntary return; the Syrians who have taken refuge in Lebanon are not political refugees, except for a few; most of them were rather displaced due to the security situation in their country, or for economic motives.

Against this background, I reiterate the stance of my country which seeks to consolidate the right of dignified, safe and sustainable return of the displaced to their land, **rejecting absolutely any project of settlement** (tawteen), whether for the displaced or the refugee. In this context, we wish to note our favorable welcome of any initiative which seeks to resolve the issue of the displacement, such as the Russian initiative.