Lebanese PM says Syrian refugees have "devastating impact" on development

Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam said here Saturday that huge crowds of refugees has had a "devastating impact" on his country's development.

He told the ongoing UN Sustainable Development Summit that his country hosts over 1.2 million registered Syrian refugees, representing a third of Lebanon's population.

"This has had a devastating impact on development, economic activity, social progress and the environment -- over stretching the capacity of our national institutions in health care, education, energy, water, sanitation and security," Tammam said.

Lebanon is one of Syria's neighboring countries to receive a massive influx of Syrian refugees since March 2011, when a political crisis broke out in the Middle East country.

Lebanon has not received enough financial support from the international community to help it cope with the cost of the crisis which has cost about one third of its gross domestic product (GDP), he said.

"The international response (has been) inadequate to address a crisis of this magnitude and duration," he said.

Meanwhile, Tammam welcomed aspects of the UN's new Sustainable Development Goals -- adopted by UN member states here Friday -- which focused on the impact of forced migration due to conflict.

"We welcome the recognition of forced displacement of people as a result of spiraling conflict, violent extremism and terrorism in the (Sustainable Development Goals)," said Tammam, "and the recognition of the need to strengthen the resilience of host communities, particularly in developing countries."

However, he expressed concern that countries would encounter difficulties in their implementation.

He called for the international community not to forget middle-income countries like Lebanon which despite their income status can face significant development challenges -- such as the migration challenge Lebanon is now facing.

"It is crucial" to review the notion of "middle-income countries" because "it penalizes many nations who lose their access to aid while they may be in more urgent need of aid than others not classified in this category," said Tammam.

He also called for greater international cooperation to help countries like Lebanon which receive funds from their diaspora in the form of remittances.

"It is essential to review the unnecessary restrictions imposed on remittances," Tammam said. "They result in a disproportionate increase of transfer costs, thus penalizing those at the receiving end and producing direct negative effects on consumption and schooling, the areas to which they are essentially directed." Enditem