Bassil: Scrap Lebanon debt to ease refugee burden
BEIRUT: Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil sounded the alarm Wednesday over the refugee crisis in Lebanon, demanding the international community take distinct measures to ease the burden on the country.
“The crisis requires unique solutions by the international community such as scraping Lebanon’s public debt,” Bassil said at the Review of the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) conference held in Beirut’s M?venpick Hotel. Lebanon’s public debt is on the rise, swelling to $66 billion in 2014.
He also called on international organizations to purchase Lebanese agricultural exports to benefit host communities tending to Syrian refugees.
Bassil voiced his fears over Lebanon’s ability to cope with the mass influx of refugees, noting that the country “hosts around 200 refugees in every 2 kilometers squared, while simultaneously confronting armed conflicts along its border.”
Lebanon currently hosts around 1.5 million Syrian refugees, according to the state’s estimation.
The minister also warned of the repercussions of the Syrian crisis on neighboring countries, calling for cooperation to “dry out” the sources that financially and ideologically promote extremism.
Touching on European policy, he said that he was “looking forward for a new neighborhood policy that respects privacy and is built on mutual values.”
This policy, according to the foreign minister, should prioritize “the preservation of the region and its demographic component.”
“We are looking forward for an active and unbiased European role,” Bassil concluded.
The conference was attended by the Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn, Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi and several other senior Arab and European officials.
Attendees made a series of recommendations for a more balanced and equal partnership under the new ENP.
Source: www.dailystar.com.lb