BEIRUT: Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk urged Monday donor countries to make good on their promise to help Lebanon address the Syrian refugee crisis, saying new measures should be in place to better manage their presence.
“There is a need for the international organizations and donor countries to fulfill their promise toward Lebanon to support plans put forward by the Lebanese government to resolve the refugee crisis,” Machnouk told a delegation from UNRWA and Deputy U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Ross Mountain.
He also said that the funds would support municipalities in the Bekaa Valley and north Lebanon which host the majority of Syrian refugee families.
Machnouk also stressed on the need to place “clear standards to regulate the presence of Syrian refugee in Lebanon.”
The meeting at Machnouk’s ministry also discussed measures taken by General Security to regulate the influx of Palestinian refugees from Syria as well as proposals of the ministerial committee tasked with addressing the refugee crisis.
Lebanon has repeatedly appealed to international organizations to help fund a government plan proposed last year to resolve the refugee crisis particularly as the number of Syrian refugees, now standing over one million, is expected to increase gradually.
Officials have estimated that there are over 1.5 million in the country including refugees who enter the country without registering with U.N. agencies, warning Lebanon can no longer bear the brunt of the crisis on its own.
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