Lebanese factions train Syrian refugees as militants: Lebanon interior minister

The Lebanese Interior Ministry has accused some political factions of exploiting Syrian refugees by sending them back to the crisis-plagued neighboring country to join foreign-backed militants fighting against the Damascus government, Press TV reports.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel made the remarks in an exclusive interview with Press TV in Beirut on Friday.

He criticized some of Lebanon’s political groups for taking advantage of jobless and impoverished Syrian refugees, training them and then sending them back to their homeland to conduct military or surveillance operations against the Syrian government.

Charbel added that the presence of Syrian refugees in Lebanon is leading to an economic crisis.

“The Syrian refugees are working for less, and therefore leaving many Lebanese jobless,” the Lebanese minister stated.

“The Syrian refugee issue has reached the climax and has its social impacts as well. It impacts (Lebanon’s) security, which concerns us the most. The refugees are found all over Lebanese lands. We have preliminary numbers. We are cooperating with local and international organizations and municipalities, which seek to get the situation under control,” Charbel said.

He stressed that there is no solution to the Syrian conflict other than national political dialogue.

The unrest in Syria began in March 2011, and many people, including large numbers of soldiers and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants are foreign nationals.