Who might falsely claim being Lebanese?
Two main groups of people may claim being Lebanese. The first group is some people from surrounding regions, especially when abroad, since Lebanese are known among the most open-minded nations in the region. The second group is the people who were illegally naturalized by Syrian occupation forces in Lebanon about ten years ago. The Syrian totalitarian regime is trying to change the ethnic and religious demography of Lebanon since it fell completely to Syrian occupation in 1990. Since then, Syria imposed a proxy regime, forced more than 30% of Lebanese population to leave the country, and granted Lebanese nationality to an equivalent percentage of mainly Syrians and Palestinians. In May 2003, the highest judiciary council in Lebanon rejected the naturalization. However, many of these Palestinians and Syrians travel around the world holding Lebanese passports claiming being Lebanese.
