Berlin donors pledge $650 for Lebanon: sources

BEIRUT: An international donor conference in Berlin pledged to send Lebanon $650 million to help cope with the Syrian refugee crisis, sources close to Prime Minister Tammam Salam said.

Separately, Sweden would donate $8.5 million to Lebanon, the sources told The Daily Star Wednesday, a day after the two-day conference.

The conference did not publicly disclose any concrete donation figures. Germany said this had not been the conference’s prime aim.

But Berlin said it was budgeting 500 million euros ($637 million) for 2015-2017 to help Syrian refugees, and the U.S. announced $10 million in additional humanitarian assistance for host communities in the region.

The Berlin conference had vowed Tuesday to extend long-term financial aid to countries struggling with what the U.N. calls the world’s “most dramatic humanitarian crisis."

Salam, in remarked published by localy daily An-Nahar Wednesday, said the donations had fallen short of their expectations.

The funds “are far from what Lebanon had requested: $1 billion in grants and soft loans,” the daily quoted him as saying.

Salam, however, expressed satisfaction with the conference's closing statement on the situation of refugees in Syria and support for stability in the region.

An-Nahar said the Berlin conference has been a disappointment, where the international community is planning to establish long-term Syrian refugee camps.

The report said both Salam and Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil opposed this proposition, fearing it would pave the way for the naturalization of Syrian refugees and further deteriorate the crisis in Lebanon.

Around 40 countries and international bodies adopted a declaration saying donors would “mobilize for years to come” increased development support to help nations like Lebanon and Jordan shoulder the impact of millions of Syrian refugees.

"Economics, public services, the social fabric of communities and the welfare of families are all affected, not to mention the security impact of the Syrian conflict in the whole region," head of the U.N. high commissioner for refugees, Antonio Guterres, told the conference.