Date: Apr 24, 2018 Source: The Daily Star Hariri talks aid ahead of Brussels summit Gemma Fox| The Daily Star BEIRUT: Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri met with EU and U.N. officials Monday before departing for Brussels where he hopes to rally international support for Lebanon in its hosting of hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees. The two-day conference “Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region” aims to raise at least $6 billion in aid for the millions of vulnerable Syrians both inside and outside of Syria. Hariri discussed with EU Ambassador Christina Lassen and the U.N.’s resident and humanitarian coordinator the importance of the international community increasing its support for the host communities who, at the forefront of the Syrian crisis, are hosting more than 5.6 million refugees, according to an official EU statement. Lebanon is supporting the highest number of refugees per capita in the world with just under 1 million registered with the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR. However, local officials place estimates at upward of 1.5 million refugees. Senior economic adviser to Hariri Nadim Munla previously told The Daily Star that Lebanon hopes to raise at least $1.5 billion in pledges that will go toward a $2.5 billion country response plan. “Lebanon’s overwhelming generosity and resilience in welcoming over a million Syrian refugees serves as an example to the region and the world”, the statement said. Funds raised at the conference will mainly be allocated to infrastructure, waste management, health and education projects for both Lebanese host communities and Syrian refugees. The 2017 conference raised some $2 billion to Lebanon in grants and loans, with the European Investment Bank and World Bank making the most significant pledges. Money raised helped a number health and education initiatives in Lebanon, including helping refurbish schools enrolling both Lebanese and Syrian students and introducing a flat rate for medical care for refugees. Lebanon’s Minister of State for Refugee Affairs Mouin Merehbi also met with a group of Syrian refugees in the Bekaa’s Saadnayel area Monday, vowing to deliver the refugees’ “messages” to the conference. He said he will also ask the U.N. to intervene to try and stop the Syrian government implementing Law 10, which would mean refugees losing their properties if they fail to register them during a 30-day period. The regime’s “confiscation of land,” Merehbi said, would have “serious repercussions.” Accompanying Merehbi, Liechtenstein Foreign Minister Aurelia Frick – who will attend the Brussels conference – stressed the need of the international community “not to forget the refugees” and said that the UNHCR would continue to support Lebanon in its efforts to give refugees a better future. Funds will also be raised for the millions of Syrians displaced internally, including some 160,000 people who were recently forced to flee Eastern Ghouta after the regime’s fierce bombing campaign and a suspected chemical attack on the enclave. Eight leading aid organizations issued statements ahead of the conference and called on donors and governments to use this opportunity to follow up on previous commitments. “Funding the aid response is critical,” said Robert Beer from aid agency CARE International, “but funding is only part of the picture – the systematic and deliberate blocking of aid inside Syria must end, and aid workers must be granted unimpeded access to civilians,” he said in a statement. Only 27.3 percent of the U.N. convoy requests were approved by the Syrian government in 2017, the joint statement said, a drop from 45.3 percent in 2016. The conference also hopes to bring together senior ministers from Russia, Iran and Turkey, in efforts to renew support for U.N.-led peace talks. Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Recep Akdag is confirmed to attend, and possibly Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, EU officials told Reuters. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has been invited but his attendance has not been confirmed.