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Lebanon no longer capable of hosting Syrian refugees: Minister

Crisis-hit Lebanon no longer has the ability to host Syrian refugees without assistance, Labour Minister Mustafa Bayram said.

Lebanon no longer capable of hosting Syrian refugees: Minister

(200129) -- TRIPOLI (LEBANON), Jan. 29, 2020 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian refugees take part in a protest in Tripoli, northern Lebanon, on Jan. 29, 2020. Palestinian refugees' camps all over Lebanon implemented on Wednesday marches, sit-ins and general strikes against the announced U.S. Middle East peace plan, also known as the "Deal of the Century," the National News Agency reported. (Photo by Khalid/Xinhua)

Crisis-hit Lebanon no longer has the ability to host Syrian refugees without assistance, Labour Minister Mustafa Bayram said.

“Lebanon can no longer bear this burden on its own, without any assistance,” Bayram was quoted as saying by the National News Agency while urging the UN to shoulder its responsibility.

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Following a meeting of the ministerial committee on Syrian refugees, Bayram noted that Syrian refugees can receive cash assistance from the UN, as well as support for education, rent, hospitalisation, and heating, while Lebanese citizens have to pay for these services from their pockets without any form of assistance which is unfair for the locals, reports Xinhua news agency.

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“The situation has become unbearable,” Bayram said.

Minister of Social Affairs Hector Hajjar said that he will brief the UN High Commissioner for Refugees on the ministerial committee’s decisions.

Nearly 11 years since the revolution in Syria began and violence escalated, around 1.5 million refugees remain displaced in Lebanon accounting for nearly a quarter of Lebanon’s total population, the highest proportion of refugees anywhere in the world.

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