Prime Minister Tamam Salam stated Monday that the number of Syrian refugees currently in Lebanon constitute one third of the Lebanese residents, adding that a large number Palestinian refugees already reside in Lebanon in addition to 50,000 Palestinians who fled the Syrian war.
In a speech he delivered during the United Nations conference on refugees, Salam said that should the International Committee fails to deploy massive efforts in the refugee crisis, Lebanon is at the risk of collapse, calling on the world, mainly the United Nations to draft a detailed map for the safe return of Syrian refugees now in Lebanon to their homeland.
The prime minister stated that “what the Lebanese people did in hosting one million and a half people is an unprecedented move,” asking UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon “when will the world help Lebanon?”