Charbel Warns from Riyadh: Lebanon Unable to Keep Up with Syrian Refugees Flow

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel announced on Wednesday that the cabinet is committed to supporting families fleeing Syria “without any discrimination”, noting that it has become “urgent for Lebanon to receive aid to fulfill its humanitarian duty towards refugees”.

"Lebanon's resources have been exhausted and the country is unable to keep up with the increasing number of refugees,” Charbel said at the opening ceremony of the Arab Interior Ministers' security meeting in Saudi Arabia's Riyadh.

He warned that the “situation is alarming”, calling for “minimum support from Arab and foreign countries”.

The interior minister remarked: “If nothing changes, the situation could affect peace and stability in Lebanon”.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said in February that at least 305,753 refugees have fled the warn-torn neighboring country and came to Lebanon since the eruption of the conflict in Syria.

President Michel Suleiman expressed on Tuesday during his African visit to the Senegal that “the number of refugees has reached a quarter of the Lebanese population”.

He said that the country has been suffering from the repercussions of the Syrian crisis: “Hosting thousands of displaced has exceeded Lebanon's material, human and geographic capabilities”.