Washington D.C., Nov 20, 2019 / 13:00 pm
A new report claims that the Syrian refugee crisis is severely burdening Lebanon's limited resources and threatens its pluralism, requiring immediate international assistance.
"Lebanon is the last safe haven for Christians in the Middle East, and it is at a crossroads," Toufic Baaklini, president of the group In Defense of Christians, stated on Tuesday upon release of the report "Displaced Syrians in Lebanon," at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
"With civil unrest aimed at forming a new government, free from corruption and foreign influence, the Syrian Displaced crisis creates an even more critical burden on an already fractured system," Baaklini said, adding that "Lebanon needs U.S. and international support" to find a solution moving forward.
The advocacy group In Defense of Christians (IDC) released the report on Tuesday with the Maronite Foundation, and presented it to Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites and All the East. The report was also presented to the White House and State Department, IDC said in a press release.