Lebanon to launch refugee crisis response plan

BEIRUT: Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas and Ross Mountain, the U.N. resident Coordinator in Lebanon, will launch Monday a crisis response plan to deal with the more than 1.2 millioon Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

The meeting on the plan gets underway at the Grand Serail in Downtown Beirut under the auspices of Prime Minister Tammam Salam and in the presence of Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Jan Eliasson.

Derbas said the plan aims to achieve 37 percent of the total financial support from donor states who have pledged to help Lebanon restore economic stability.

“This financial equation was based from the roadmap that had been prepared by the government for the financial needs of the Lebanese people, and to provide financial support to the sectors of education, health, electricity and others,” Derbas told local daily An-Nahar in remarks published Monday.

He warned of the consequences if the U.N.’s World Food Program suspended providing food aid to Syrian refugees.

Lebanon hosts around 1.2 million registered Syrian refugees, but unofficial figures are much higher. Their presence is exerting enormous pressure on the country’s ailing infrastructure.

"The government has been able to secure financial support from Saudi Arabia to cover the expenses of the food supply for Syrian refugees for December," Derbas said.

A lack of funds has forced the U.N. to stop providing food vouchers for 1.7 million Syrian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt, WFP said earlier this month.

WFP said it needed $64 million to support the refugees for the rest of December.

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