EU unveils €1-billion aid package for Lebanon in bid to curb refugee flows
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the move on Thursday morning following a meeting with Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut.
The cash will help Lebanon strengthen basic services such as education, social protection and health, and spur economic reforms in the crisis-stricken country, von der Leyen said.
The financial envelope is also designed to help Lebanon grapple with the challenges it faces in welcoming Syrian refugees.
“We understand the challenges that Lebanon faces with hosting Syrian refugees and other displaced persons. It is vital to ensure the well-being of host communities and Syrian refugees,” von der Leyen said.
The Commission chief also vowed to “look at how to make the EU’s assistance more effective,” including facilitating a “more structured approach to voluntary returns” of displaced Syrians.
It comes after EU leaders backed deeper engagement with Beirut last month to help safeguard it from the repercussions of the conflict in the Middle East, and after Cyprus raised the alarm over a sharp peak in the number of Syrian refugees arriving from Lebanon.
It also follows a string of agreements signed over the last year between Brussels and African countries in a bid to stem migration into Europe.
A deepening economic crisis and fragile government make Lebanon particularly vulnerable to the instability gripping the region in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war.
The country is home to some 210,000 Palestinian and 1.5 million Syrian refugees, prompting fears regional instability could unleash a wave of migrants towards Europe via the island of Cyprus.
In early April, Cyprus announced it would temporarily halt the processing of asylum applications due to a surge in arrivals of Syrian refugees transiting through Lebanon and attempting to reach the island, which lies just 260 km off the Lebanese coast in the Mediterranean Sea.
President Christodoulides has urged EU leaders to consider reassessing the so-called “safe areas” within Syria in order to facilitate the return of migrants and refugees.
“The problems seen on the Cypriot border is only one example of what could happen if this problem is not addressed,” Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati acknowledged on Thursday, thanking Christodoulides for brokering the agreement.
