Lebanese Activist Naji Hayek: The Syrian Refugees Will Destroy Lebanon Like the Palestinians Did; They Should Return to Syria Instead of Exploiting Us

Naji Hayek, a member of Lebanon's Free Patriotic Movement, said in a June 10, 2019 interview on Al-Jadeed/New TV (Lebanon) that the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, which he described as a "gun for hire" that has destroyed Lebanon and its people, had started off just like today's 1.5 million Syrian refugees. Hayek said that the Syrian refugees in Lebanon who oppose the Syrian regime should return to Syria and "finish the mission" by fighting the regime rather than be in Lebanon and exploit the state and its people. Adding that the Syrian refugees should be returned to Syria, which he said is 18 times larger than Lebanon, Hayek stated: "These 1.5 million people will one day have weapons and will destroy Lebanon."

Naji Hayek: "We have had a very bad experience in Lebanon with the issue of the Palestinian refugees who came here in 1948. They started off like the Syrian [refugees] today, and after 25 years, they turned into a 'gun for hire.' They turned into a gun that struck and fought the Lebanese people, and that was used in order to destroy Lebanon and its people. The 1.5 million [Syrian refugees] that are here started coming to Lebanon in 2011. When the war in Syria started, we opened our doors for them for humanitarian reasons..."

Interviewer: "Today we still open our doors for them..."

Naji Hayek: "It is unacceptable that 300,000 of the 1.5 million refugees are military people. Those who oppose the Syrian regime and who do not want to return to the areas under Syrian regime control should return there, fight the regime, and finish their mission. They should not come here and exploit Lebanon and its people, while saying that they are against the Syrian regime. If someone wants to take political action, he should go there and fight.

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"These 1.5 million refugees in Lebanon will sooner or later have weapons, and when that happens, Lebanon will be destroyed."

Interviewer: "What do you think we should do today?"

Naji Hayek: "We should immediately send the Syrians back to Syria. Syria is 18 times larger than Lebanon."