Brahimi Warns Lebanon Can No Longer Support Massive Influx of Syrian Refugees

U.N.-Arab League peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi stressed on Saturday that Lebanon can no longer support the large influx of Syrian refugees fleeing the crisis in neighboring Syria.

“The problem can no longer be ignored,” Brahimi said during a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergie Lavrov in Moscow.

Recently, sharp differences emerged between Lebanese officials over a proposal by Free Patriotic Minister Jebran Bassil to close the border between Lebanon and Syria, as those who oppose this move argue that the refugees would use the illegal border crossings.

There are currently more than 170,000 Syrian refugees in the country, according to figures released by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on Friday.

The intense fighting between forces loyal to President Bashar Assad and rebels battling to overthrow him has sparked a huge exodus of Syrians and Palestinians to neighboring countries.

The United Nations has appealed for $1 billion to fund refugee operations until June.

A United Nations report published in December predicted that the number of Syrian refugees would double to more than one million in the next six months.