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Argentina announces plan to receive 300 Syrian refugees

Xinhua, August 5, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Argentine government will put in place a plan to receive 300 Syrian refugees in the coming months, local media reported Thursday.

"The original announcement was to bring 3,000 refugees that were escaping the war in Syria. However, yesterday it was decided ... to advance gradually towards this ambitious plan, taking all the necessary steps in terms of security," said local daily La Nacion.

The publication, which cited the Government Palace and the Foreign Affairs Ministry, said the idea is to establish a team of advanced experts, intelligence agents and non-governmental organizations from Arab communities in Lebanon to carry out a vetting process for Syrian refugees.

The Syrian refugee plan will be one of the topics of the meeting between Argentina's President Mauricio Macri and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry who is in the country for an official 24-hour visit, La Nacion said.

In July, Argentine Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra said she was "talking with the EU and the United States, because if they (financially) accompany (Argentina), it will make it easier" to receive refugees.

For over a century, Argentina has had an extensive Syrian community, which has mainly established themselves in the northwest of the South American country in provinces such as La Rioja, Catamarca and Tucuman. Endit