The UN refugee agency hoped on Tuesday that Lebanon would reverse its decision to freeze the residency applications of its staff. “We are very concerned about the freezing issuing of residence permits to international staff in Lebanon,” UNHCR spokesman Andre Mahecic said during a briefing in Geneva. Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil ordered the freeze last week after accusing UNHCR of hindering the return of refugees to Syria by “spreading fear”. “We do not oppose or discourage people returning, when they return based on their own decision and based on informed choice,” Mahecic said. “It is the reality that some people are returning. They are making their decision to go back,” Mahecic said. “We have also in that regard ramped up our assistance inside Syria where we can to be able to support those,” he said. “We hope that the decision of the foreign ministry will be reversed without delay,” he added. Bassil was criticized by Lebanese officials for his move against the UNHCR. Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri slammed his “unilateral” decision. In announcing his move, Bassil said the UNHCR had discouraged refugees from returning by asking them questions about conditions they might face in Syria, including the possibility of military conscription, security problems and poor accommodation. “UNHCR does not try to discourage the refugees from returning back to Syria at all. We respect people’s decisions, the individual decisions for people to return,” said Rola Amin, spokeswoman for the agency in the Middle East, last week. Syrian refugees now account for around a quarter of the population of Lebanon - around 1 million are registered with the United Nations. The Lebanese government wants the refugees to start going home; the UN says it is not yet safe for them to return. Beirut is working with Damascus to arrange the return of thousands of refugees it says want to go back to Syria, a top Lebanese official said last month. Lebanese President Michel Aoun has been calling for Syrian refugees to return to areas of the country he has described as secure. He says this should happen before a final political solution to the seven-year-long war. A conference on Syria hosted by the European Union and co-chaired by the United Nations in April said conditions remained unsafe.