Prime Minister Tammam Salam on Monday urged the United Nations to devise a plan for the “safe return” of Syrian refugees from Lebanon to their country.
“This huge and sudden influx of refugees is posing dangerous risks to our stability, security, economy and public services,” said Salam during the first-ever U.N. summit on refugees in New York.
“Lebanon risks collapsing if the international community does not exert major efforts in this regard,” Salam added, addressing U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon.
The prime minister also urged the world and the U.N. to “devise a detailed roadmap for the safe and honorable return of the Syrian refugees who are present in Lebanon to their country.”
“This detailed plan must be devised within three months and it must detail the transportation needs, the places of departure and the financial cost,” Salam added.
“Collecting the funds needed for this plan must begin immediately so that it can be quickly implemented once the circumstances allow,” he urged.
Salam also called for announcing quotas for countries in the region and beyond to share the refugee burden with Lebanon.
“Negotiations for redistributing the refugees to areas outside Lebanon must begin before the end of this year,” the premier said, while calling for “boosting the funding of developmental projects at the local and regional levels.”
“Mr. Secretary General, when will the world do something for Lebanon? When will the U.N. assume this mission and rally serious efforts to help refugees and displaced people?” Salam added, addressing Ban Ki-moon.
Five years into the Syria conflict, Lebanon hosts more than one million refugees from the war-torn country, according to the United Nations.
More than a third live in the Bekaa valley near the Syrian border.
