Lebanon to set limit on refugee influx

Lebanon will set a limit on the number of Syrian refugees in the country and establish camps for the population, which already exceeds a million, according to the trade and economy minister, The Daily Star reports.

“The [ministerial] committee [on Syrian refugees] agreed on two main topics, [including] setting the maximum limit for the Syrian refugees’ influx that Lebanon can no longer handle,” Trade and Economy Minister Alain Hakim said.

“The second point is establishing refugee camps, but we still haven’t agreed on the locations of such camps; they might be inside the Syrian border or on the Lebanese side,” he added. “We will discuss this during the upcoming Cabinet session.”

The committee’s meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Tammam Salam at the Grand Serail and attended by several ministers.

Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas said last week that Lebanon and the United Nations were mulling the possibility of establishing settlements for Syrians.

There are already 1,100 random camps in Lebanon, the country hosting the largest community of Syrian refugees.