BEIRUT - Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati said on Monday that he asked officials of international countries on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference to help Lebanon handle the great number of Syrian refugees.
“I expressed, before all the officials that I met, the extent of danger that Lebanon is experiencing because of the Syrian crisis, and the influx of great numbers of Syrian refugees to Lebanon,” Miqati said in a statement.
“I called on them primarily to support the trust fund that we have created in order to help the Lebanese economy handle all the consequences of the Syrian crisis and the refugees’ crisis,” he added.
“I also [expressed] the need to build Syrian refugee camps inside Syria in order to mitigate the immigration burden [borne] by neighboring countries and by the Syrians themselves.”
Miqati noted that the World Bank estimated the direct losses that afflicted the Lebanese economy due to the Syrian refugees crisis at around $7.5 billion.
The caretaker premier also expressed his pessimism over an imminent solution for the region’s crises.
“The numerous meetings that I held [with] Arab and international [officials] further convinced me that there is no possibility for a final solution on the short term for the [crises] in our region, especially the Syrian crisis,” Miqati said.
“[All] that can be reached is momentary solutions through some urgent humanitarian [aid] and by alleviating human damage,” he added.
More than 900,000 Syrians have fled to Lebanon since the civil war erupted nearly three years ago, many living in tents and unfinished buildings.
https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/lebanonnews/533713-miqati-asks-for-help-with-syrian-refugees-crisis
