Lebanese President Michel Aoun announced on Saturday that there was a “pressing” need to resolve the burden Syrian refugees are posing on his country.
“The numbers of refugees have reached nearly half of Lebanon’s population,” he told the Rotary Presidential Peacebuilding Conference 2018.
This has led to massive pressure on the country’s economy despite the “massive efforts exerted by public and civil institutions in Lebanon to help the refugees and meet their needs,” he continued.
“The burden of the refugees has become exhausting on Lebanon and the refugees themselves,” he stressed.
Lebanon is a country of limited resources and its small geographic size cannot tolerate such a long-term increase in its population, Aoun said.
The president had earlier held talks with visiting Administrator of the United Nations Development Program Achim Steiner, who was also present at the Rotary conference.
Addressing the UN official, Aoun said: “We hope that you will hear our voice and relay our struggles, as well as the voice of the refugees and their suffering.”
“They definitely want to return to their homeland and live in dignity, and not continue on living in camps,” he remarked.
Steiner had met during his Lebanon visit Prime Minister Saad Hariri, Speaker Nabih Berri and Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq.
A UN statement said that he discussed the challenges Lebanon has been facing since the eruption of the Syrian crisis.
