Lebanon Seeks $30B Compensation for Hosting Syrian Refugees

Lebanese Social Affairs Minister Hector Hajjar on Monday called on the international community to compensate Lebanon with $30 billion for hosting displaced Syrians, the Social Affairs Ministry said in a statement. “We rely on the international community’s compensation for Lebanon, which has so far incurred losses estimated at $30 billion,” Hajjar said during the European Union’s Sixth Brussels Conference, titled “Supporting the future of Syria and the region.” The ministry estimates that Lebanon has spent $1 billion annually on energy subsidies for the Syrian refugees and up to $3 billion on bread. Hajjar said Lebanon hosts nearly 1.5 million displaced Syrians, who comprise 30% of the country’s residents. (Other sources estimate that the Syrian refugees account for around 20-25% of Lebanon’s population – still the highest proportion of refugees anywhere in the world.) The Syrians “live in tents, under inhumane conditions, distributed over 1,000 of the 1,050 Lebanese towns,” Hajjar said. The minister charged that the Syrian refugees represented a “loss of many job opportunities for the Lebanese, as most of the displaced are engaged in a competitive and illegal economic activity, without contributing to paying taxes.”