Ratas: Estonia will continue to provide humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees living in Lebanon
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Beirut, Lebanon, 28 March 2018 – at today’s meeting with General Michel Aoun, President of Lebanon, and Saad Hariri, head of the Lebanese government, Prime Minister Jüri Ratas confirmed that Estonia will continue to support the Syrian refugees living in Lebanon.
“Lebanon has made an extraordinary effort by letting up to 1.5 million Syrian refugees into the country, according to different estimations. Those people have been forced to leave their homes to survive. The organisations of the UN provide security and support to them. In recent years, Estonia has also increased the amount of humanitarian aid provided to Lebanon,” said Ratas.
The war in Syria, which is currently in its seventh year, has caused the largest humanitarian and refugee crisis of the present day. 13.1 million people require daily humanitarian aid. The European Union with its Member States has been the most important provider of humanitarian aid since the beginning of the crisis, contributing more than 10.6 billion euros. In 2012–2018, Estonia has supported the improvement of the lives of refugees in Syria as well as its neighbouring countries with a total sum of more than 7.1 million euros. This year and the next Estonia has decided to contribute an additional 1.3 million euros.
In Lebanon, Estonia has allocated 950,000 euros since 2013 to support accepting refugees, providing food and shelter as well as medical services, continuing education, and paying the salaries of teachers.
Ratas also spoke about the security situation of Lebanon and the successful fight against the terrorist group Daesh with Aoun and Hariri. Estonia takes part of the activities of the Global Coalition Against Daesh, which was formed by the United States in 2014.
The economic relations of Estonia and Lebanon are modest. Lebanon has expressed interest in the e-government services of Estonia. “Estonia is always glad to share the success stories and lessons of the development of a digital country. As approximately 18 million Lebanese people live outside their country, Lebanon is particularly interested in our i-voting,” Ratas noted.
Photos (Triin Oppi / Government Communication Unit):
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/l1la77v0zx2x44k/AAALED2aqJQEO7ip-O45YCpFa?dl=0