BEIRUT, Oct 1 (NNN-NNA) – Lebanese President, Michel Aoun, said that, Syrian refugees pose a burden of three billion U.S. dollars yearly, on the Lebanese economy, a statement by Lebanon’s presidency reported.
“This figure has a very negative impact on our small country, whereby Lebanon’s debt increased by 27 billion dollars, following the Syrian crisis,” Aoun said, during his meeting at Baabda Palace, with a delegation from the American Task Force for Lebanon.
Aoun called upon the United States to find the right solution to the issue of Syrian and Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, while emphasising the need to separate the return of Syrian refugees to their homeland with the need to find a political solution in Syria.
More than one million Syrian refugees are registered with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Lebanon, while the Lebanese government estimated the true number of Syrians in the country at 1.5 million.