Charbel: Over 2 million Syrians in Lebanon by end year !

July 30, 2013

 Marwan Charbel ,Lebanon’s Minister of Interior and Municipalities in the caretaker government told As Safir newspaper in remarks published on Tuesday that the number of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon could exceed two million by the end of the year.

“The number of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon could exceed two million by the end of the year which is equivalent to half the population of Lebanon.” Charbel said adding that “if the flow of syrian refugees too Lebanon persists at same current level, it means that we are on the verge of disaster, and this requires exceptional emergency measures. ”

2 million may not be much for larger countries, but imagine if a country like USA which has a population of around 320 million has to cope with 160 million refugees.

The official number of registered Syrian refugees is around 700,000 but according to observers the number of unregistered refugees is much higher ( than registered) . According to some reports the number of Syrian refugees in some Lebanese villages and towns exceeds the actual number of permanent Lebanese residents .

The immensity of death and destruction in Syria has forced many Syrians to flee to the neighboring countries and it appears Lebanon, which is the smallest country in the region is getting the lion’s share of displaced Syrians.