European Union commissioner Ursula von der Leyen announced €1 billion in aid for crisis-ridden Lebanon during a visit to Beirut on Thursday and called on the caretaker government to stem the flow of Syrian refugees into the bloc.
At a joint news conference with Lebanese prime minister Najib Mikati and Cypriot president Nikos Christodoulides, she said the aid, which will be available from now until 2027, will be used to strengthen border controls and counter people-smuggling. The EU will also provide Lebanese security forces with equipment and training.
While the EU will offer “legal pathways open to Europe” and settle refugees in the bloc, Ms von der Leyen said the EU will explore a “structured approach to voluntary return to Syria in close co-operation with the UN refugee agency” and called for international support for reconstruction and recovery projects for Syria.
After emerging from its 2011-2019 civil and proxy war, Syria has suffered an economic crisis due in part to western sanctions that impede reconstruction.
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The funds to Lebanon will be paid in grants rather than loans. Seventy-five per cent of the funding with be directed to help Lebanon cope with the consequences of the Syrian conflict, while the remainder will support the country’s armed forces and security services.
Mr Christodoulides said the package includes aid for development programmes to address Lebanon’s economic meltdown and provide benefits for Lebanon’s citizens. “The EU clearly states that it is actively present and that it will be on the side of Lebanon,” he said.
Cyprus has engineered EU involvement in halting the trafficking of refugees from Lebanon to the island. Their numbers have risen dramatically this year as Beirut has deported refugees without valid residence permits to Syria.
Syrians have been subjected to discrimination and harsh treatment in Lebanon, the UN has reported. This increased after Lebanese Christian politician Pascal Suleiman was kidnapped and murdered, allegedly by Syrians, last month.
According to Lebanon’s interior minister Bassam Mawlawi, 300,000 Syrian refugees out of a total of two million have residency permits, while 800,000 are registered with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, which has said 90 per cent of Syrians live in extreme poverty.
Cyprus paused the processing of asylum applications in mid-April after 1,000 people came from Lebanon on boats during the first half of that month. More than 2,000 arrived between January and March as compared with 78 over the same period in 2023. Refugee shelters are full and 25,000 have applied for asylum.
Cyprus adopted this measure to put pressure on the EU to identify places in Syria to which refugees could return from Lebanon. Refugees account for seven per cent of the republic’s population. Cyprus hosts per capita the highest number of applications for asylum in the EU.
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