BEIRUT, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- Minister of Affairs of the Displaced Moin Merebi said Tuesday that the number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon has dropped in the last two year to below 1 million, stressing that monitoring and keeping registration data would facilitate the return of the displaced in the future.
Merebi was quoted by Al-Hayat daily that "the latest Syrian refugees' census has shown a drop from 1,21 million to 980,000 of registered Syrian refugees in past two years."
The minister noted that assistance provided for the displaced is notably diminishing because of the scarcity of donor contributions, pointing that "the assistance is not submitted to the Lebanese state, but to the United Nations and the relevant organizations that distribute them to the displaced."news
Merebi added that refugees' registration data can remarkably help the process of the return as it also falls in the "interest of Lebanon and the Lebanese."
According to the United Nations Higher Council for Refugees, Lebanon hosts around 1.1 million Syrians who flocked to the country since the rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad in 2011.
The World Bank says the Syrian crisis has pushed an estimated 200,000 Lebanese into poverty, adding to the country's 1 million poor local people.
