The international community, it seems, has finally recognized the harm that could befall Lebanon if the country were to go along with Ban’s proposal. Lebanon’s fiercely protected delicate sectarian balance is essential in maintaining stability and security in a country located in a region rife with turmoil, and naturalizing over a million Syrian refugees, more than a quarter of the country’s current Lebanese population, would disrupt that status quo and likely lead to internal conflicts.

Furthermore, neither the country’s infrastructure, which for the greater part remains in need of an overhaul since the Civil War, nor the economy, which is seriously troubled in large part due to the conflict Syria, is in any position to accommodate the weight of such a huge number of people. Both, in fact, are strained even now as a result of the refugees being hosted.

As for the refugees themselves, no one should assume that they’re looking to permanently leave their homeland. The majority of Syrians being hosted by Lebanon, other regional states such as Turkey and Jordan, and even a most of those who have reached Europe, have fled their country for fear of their lives, and in order to be able to feed and house themselves and their children in a safe, secure environment for the duration of the war. And a great many, even among those in Europe, have expressed their desire to return to their homeland as soon as possible.

In the meantime, the best thing the international community can do to ease the refugees’ suffering is to provide adequate aid to host countries in order to improve refugees’ living conditions, and to make serious efforts to finally bring the Syrian conflict to a conclusion so these desperate people can return to their homes.