Derbas Says Lebanon Can Deal with Kuwait Fund without U.N.

Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas has said that Lebanese authorities no longer need to wait for the United Nations to spend a Kuwaiti grant aimed at helping Beirut confront the burden of Syrian refugees.

Derbas told An Nahar daily published on Tuesday that “this grant means Lebanon no longer has to wait for the U.N.”

He thanked Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah for ordering the head of Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, Abdel Wahhab Badr, to avoid the plans set up for helping Syria's neighboring countries and directly put a $500,000 million contribution in Lebanon’s disposal.

The fund was announced during the last Syria donors conference held in Kuwait last March.

In his remarks to An Nahar, Derbas thanked the Kuwaiti emir and his envoy who is tasked with coordinating the matter with the U.N. on their generosity.

Derbas said earlier this month that the number of refugees registered with the U.N. refugee agency, the UNHCR, has reached approximately 1.2 million.

More Syrians have entered Lebanon illegally and are not registered.

G.K.

D.A.