Lebanese PM Hariri hopes Brussels conference will help tackle Syrian refugee crisis

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Wednesday expressed hope that the Brussels Conference on the future of Syria and the Region would assist in the return of displaced Syrians to their homes.

He also expressed optimism that the conference would help provide financial aid for accommodation of those remaining in Lebanon.

“You know we have 1.5 million refugees. We need to discuss their return to Syria to start with and also pledges that could help Lebanon to sustain some amount of refugees inside the country.

“It has been very hard for the Lebanese people and for the host communities. This is what we expect,’’ Hariri told reporters ahead of the second day of the conference.

Lebanon has been facing political and economic crises for years and the situation has worsened since the start of the civil war in Syria, which forced hundreds of thousands of refugees to flee to neighbouring countries, including to Lebanon.

Lebanese authorities regularly call on the international community to assist them in handling the refugee crisis, as the country has the highest per capita concentration of refugees worldwide.

The two-day ministerial conference Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region, co-chaired by the European Union and the UN, kicked off in the Belgian capital on Tuesday.

The event aims to mobilise humanitarian assistance to Syrians inside the country, which has been engulfed in a war since 2011, as well as in the neighbouring states.