Derbas to Urge World Community to Take its Share of Syria Refugee Problem

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Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas, who is scheduled to travel to Geneva on Monday to attend a conference on Syrian refugees, said he would urge the international community to carry out its duties and resolve the crisis.

Derbas told al-Liwaa newspaper that during his speech at the conference he will reiterate the repercussions of the Syrian refugee crisis on Lebanon, particularly on its economy.

The conference is scheduled to start on Tuesday.

Derbas said he will tell the conferees that the cost of naturalizing the Syrians is higher than sending them back home to safe areas.

“Hadn't there been neglect and bad predictions, the solution (of the crisis) would have been easier,” the minister told al-Liwaa.

The international community should carry out its duties and come up with a vision for a peaceful solution in Syria, he said.

After three years of fighting in Syria, more than 3.2 million refugees are registered in neighboring countries and with little sign of the conflict coming to an end, the UNHCR believes the number could rise to nearly 3.6 million by the end of 2015.

Lebanon hosts around 1.5 million refugees.

The U.N. refugee agency called on countries which have not accepted any refugees so far, such as the Gulf states and Latin American countries, to move in that regard.

Derbas said he will make a similar appeal during the Geneva conference.

The U.N.'s World Food Program (WFP) launched a social media campaign on Wednesday to raise $64 million needed to help feed nearly 1.7 million Syrian refugees after donors failed to honor cash pledges.

It was forced to make the plea after running out of funds to pay for its food voucher program for refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Egypt.

Comments 1
Thumb -phoenix1 08 December 2014, 12:29

All these politicians of ours today have no balls, no guts, nothing, just feeble employees going for a trip of cigars and caviar, and making sure that a speech is delivered. Sheer rubbish all these people.