Lebanon: Syria donors meet test for international community

Lebanon: Syria donors meet test for international community
Lebanese Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil has said that the Syria Donors Conference which will be held in London on Thursday will be a test for world leaders on their intention to help Lebanon, Naharner reported.

The conference “is a test for the international community and its intention in assisting Lebanon, its government, people and economy,” Akhbar Daily quoted him as saying on Wednesday.

The international community should help the Syrians return to their country, he said.

Al-Akhbar also quoted sources as saying that the Lebanese delegation, which will be headed by Prime Minister Tammam Salam and includes Education Minister Elias Bou Saab, is an agreement that the Syrians should return home.

“Their presence will not be infinite,” they said.

Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas confirmed to Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) that there are no differences among the Lebanese delegation’s members on the country’s requests at the conference.

The donor conference, the fourth of its kind, hopes to meet the United Nations’ demand for $7.73 billion to help in Syria plus $1.23 billion assistance for countries in the region affected by the crisis.

British Prime Minister David Cameron will host more than 70 international leaders at the summit.

They will include Salam, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Associated Press said.

The conference will try to find ways to keep more refugees in the region, including by putting large numbers to work and making them less dependent on aid. Currently, most refugees are not allowed to work legally in Jordan and Lebanon, which face high domestic unemployment.

Bassil warned that Lebanon’s delegation to the conference should be on alert to the approval of any document with vague terminology that could encourage Syrians to stay in Lebanon, Agence France Presse reported.

The foreign ministry has proposed the STEP program, which allows the short-term employment of Syrians.

The project activates the economy and finds job opportunities for the Lebanese and Syrians in the agriculture and constructions sectors, he said, adding that the Syrians would put part of their salaries in private accounts which they will have access to upon their return to their country.

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