00:00Well, on that point of Lebanon, coming up, we'll be joined by Barham Saleh, the UN High Commissioner
00:05for Refugees. A refugee himself who fled as a young Kurd from repression in Iraq. He spent years
00:13and years in exile, but then one day actually became the president of Iraq back in 2018,
00:19a position he held until 2022. Welcome, sir. Pleasure to have you here with us.
00:24Thank you for having me.
00:25So just describe the situation on the ground in Lebanon.
00:29It's a very dire situation. More than a million people have already been displaced and it's
00:34in very, very harsh conditions. Our teams are working to deliver assistance. And in that
00:39regard, I have to say, EU has been generous to providing two jets of supplies, also the
00:47government of Italy, as well as Irish aid. But we need more.
00:51Indeed, the European Union has been sending millions in aid, but whereas the European Union
00:55has no say here in how this war will play out. How bad will the situation get in Lebanon,
01:00in your view?
01:00I hope this thing will be put behind us before long because we need peace. This conflict has
01:06gone on already for far too long. It's highly destabilising. It is escalating. And I have to
01:13say also human lives are at stake. The impact on civilians across the region is phenomenal,
01:19is profound. We already, as I said, about a million people have been internally displaced
01:25in Lebanon. Nearly 600,000 to a million households in Iran have been displaced. Of course, there
01:33has been significant population movements in the Gulf. Not to mention Iraq that has been subject
01:39to terrible attacks, including yesterday in the Kurdistan region. And the civilians across the
01:46region in Israel, in Lebanon, in the Gulf, in Iran are being affected in a profound way. And in that
01:53context also, this conflict is spilling beyond the region, immediate region. We are seeing a lot of
02:00Afghan refugees in Iran and in Pakistan are being forced to go back under adverse conditions to
02:06Afghanistan. All of this combined is really presenting us with a terrible humanitarian challenge.
02:13Pakistan have offered to mediate here. Any hope in those?
02:16Let's hope that this will lead to some useful, tangible peace arrangement. This region needs peace.
02:23This conflict cannot go on like this, destabilising and impacting human lives across the region.
02:30And I hope that we need a durable and just peace that will not put us in a place where
02:36six months
02:37from now, over a year from now, we will have another recurrence of this type of things. This region
02:41cannot afford these cycles of violence.
02:43And you described so many people on the move in the region. Should Europe prepare for potential
02:47waves coming here?
02:48At the moment, most of the displacement is within the countries. Our teams at UNSCR are already
02:54monitoring the situation very closely. There is no significant movements across the borders. Beyond
02:59that, what I spoke about in Afghanistan, that people from Iran, Afghani refugees in Iran and Pakistan
03:05to a degree, are being sent back or encouraged to go back or pushed back. But across the borders,
03:11we do not see that. We are also seeing, in order to put things in proper context, a large
03:17number, nearly 130,000 Syrian refugees who were resident in Lebanon have gone back into Syria.
03:24I would not call that voluntary returns per se. They are returning under adverse conditions. But
03:30in order to put the picture complete, our teams are looking at that situation. And I hope the world
03:35as a whole, we will be paying enough attention to bring this situation under control, to lead to a
03:42peace that will be lasting and basically rooted in the protection of interests of the peoples of the
03:47region, respectful of the dignity and the rights of the peoples across that region. This region has seen
03:53too many wars and too many cycles of conflict. So what would your message then be to President
03:57Trump, who doesn't really seem to have a plan here? Well, the message is peace. The message is
04:02de-escalation and dialogue. We have to be emphatic about this. And what about his Board of Peace?
04:08The Board of Peace has already been very active in Gaza. And thank God the active conflict in Gaza has
04:15been brought to an end at least for a while. And let's hope that it will deliver something tangible for
04:21the
04:21people of Gaza and the region as a whole. Okay, Barham Salih. Thank you so much,
04:26UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Thank you so much for coming in to us here on Euronews.
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