The European Commission announced that it will provide an additional €30 million to Lebanon to alleviate the impact of the high influx of refugees from Syria. The Commission highlighted that the objective of this special measure is to reinforce the national capacity to deal with the unprecedented number of refugees and provide financial support for the Government’s plan to mitigate the consequences this has for the country.

Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Štefan Füle announced that the EU will provide an additional €30 million to Lebanon to alleviate the impact of the high influx of refugees from Syria. The additional funding constitutes a significant increase and brings the total amount of financial assistance offered by the European Commission to Lebanon in relation to the Syrian crisis to almost €75 million in humanitarian and non-humanitarian aid. In December 2012, €30 million more from EU funds were also allocated to help people affected by the Syrian crisis.

The Commission also stressed that the European assistance will be allocated in line with the priorities of the Lebanese Government and will focus on strengthening of Lebanese institutions in particular in the areas of education and child services for the refugees as well as supporting the Lebanese communities that have hosted refugees from Syria, often in their own homes.

Moreover, out of the €30 million announced to help Lebanon to cope with the refugee crisis, €5 million would be designated for Palestinian refugees from Syria. The support of the EU is managed through UN agencies in the country and goes both to emergency humanitarian response and to support the secondary needs of refuges (education, health care) as well as to support the Lebanese host communities which are predominantly in the poorest and most neglected regions of the country.