BEIRUT (Reuters) (Reporting by Tom Perry; editing by John Stonestreet) – Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri
said Lebanon was close to “breaking point” due to the strains of
hosting 1.5 million Syrian refugees, and he feared unrest could spiral
from tensions between them and Lebanese communities. Refugees who fled the six-year-long conflict in
neighboring Syria make up a quarter of Lebanon’s population, and most
live in severe poverty in makeshift camps across the country as the
government opposes the creation of formal ones. “Today if you go around most of the host
communities, there is a huge tension between the Lebanese and the
Syrians… I fear civil unrest,” Hariri told journalists working for
foreign media on Friday. He will urge the international community to
boost financial support for Lebanon at a conference on Syria in Brussels
next week. “I am going … to make sure that the world understands that
Lebanon is on the verge of a breaking point,” he said. Hariri said the country has been “extremely
lucky in making sure this crisis has not affected host communities, but
we have stretched our luck. The Syria war has weakened Lebanon’s economy,
fueled tension among Lebanese allied to the rival sides, and triggered a
number of jihadist attacks. But there has so far been no significant
violence between Syrian refugees and Lebanese host communities.
Hariri urged the international community to
commit to spending the equivalent of $10-12,000 per refugee over a
period of five to seven years, compared to the current level of foreign
support equivalent to $1-1,200 per year. “I think that will make sure that Lebanon is going to stand on its own and the economy will thrive,” he said. Georges Ghali, programs manager at Lebanese
human rights organization ALEF, said the tensions were rooted in factors
such as misperceptions held by Lebanese that refugees were being
showered in aid, and government policies that had made it difficult for
them to obtain official residency. Tensions had not reached the point of violent escalation, Ghali added. Lebanese officials, citing World Bank figures,
say the cumulative cost of the Syrian conflict to Lebanon was $18.15
billion to the end of 2015. Lebanon’s annual economic growth has slowed
to just over 1 percent from an average of 8 percent before the Syrian
war, officials have said.The government is seeking financial support for a
program of public sector-led investment in infrastructure to boost the
economy, and to increase the number of Syrians in education. Hariri, a Saudi-allied Sunni politician, became
prime minister in December in a political deal that saw Michel Aoun, an
ally of the Iranian-backed Shi’ite group Hezbollah, elected head of
state. Hezbollah, which is fighting in Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad, is also part of the government.
