Lebanon Mulling to Hold Arab Conference over Refugee Crisis
Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas has said that he discussed with Kuwait's Speaker Marzouq al-Ghanim the possibility of holding an Arab parliamentary conference in Beirut over the Syrian refugee crisis.
Derbas told al-Liwaa newspaper in remarks published on Tuesday that such a conference could be followed by an Arab summit to help the host countries meet the burden of the refugees.
Al-Ghanim toured encampments of Syrian refugees in Central and West Bekaa on Monday.
The idea to hold the Arab parliamentary conference came as Derbas accompanied him in his tour.
More than 1 million of Syrians are in Lebanon, leaving the country, home to 4.5 million people, struggling to cope with the massive influx of refugees.
The Syrian conflict started in March 2011 as largely peaceful protests against President Bashar Assad's rule that deteriorated into civil war.
The fighting has uprooted 9 million people from their homes, with over 6 million Syrians seeking shelter in safer parts of the country and at least 2.7 million fleeing to neighboring countries.
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