Bou Habib takes part in Syria donors' conference in Brussels

Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib participated Tuesday in a pledging conference in Brussels for conflict-wracked Syria.

Bou Habib had told France 24 that he will urge the international community to help Lebanon by securing a safe return of the Syrian refugees to their country, as he said the refugee crisis has exacerbated the dire situation in Lebanon.

"The Syrians are competing with the Lebanese in employment opportunities," Bou Habib said. "They are also additional users of a collapsed infrastructure," he added.

The minister said he was not sure if the international community will answer Lebanon's demands. "In case they refuse to help us return the Syrians home, then donors must be ready to provide greater assistance than what has been pledged in the past," he added.

Weeks ago, a Lebanese ministerial committee on Syrian refugees had said that Lebanon cannot "bear this burden" anymore.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said during the conference in Brussels that the 27-nation bloc would provide an additional 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) for Syria this year, bringing the annual total to 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion). He said the EU would also provide 1.56 billion euros ($1.65 billion) next year.

The funding will go to helping Syrians and to neighboring countries struggling with Syrian refugees, particularly Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan.

Non-EU country Norway said Monday that it would provide 1.5 billion kroner ($156 million) in 2021 to assist people in Syria and neighboring countries.

“Our strong political commitment to Syria must be backed by equally strong financial commitments,” Borrell said. He vowed that the EU would maintain sanctions against Syrian President Bashar Assad's government, and stressed that there can be no normalized relations until Syrian refugees are “safe to go back home.”

Last year, the EU, the United States and other nations pledged $6.4 billion to help Syrians and neighboring countries hosting refugees. But that fell well short of the $10 billion that the U.N. had sought.

Imogen Sudbery, from the International Rescue Committee aid group, urged the EU to do more, noting that “even if donors pledge the same as previous years, they will not fill this alarming and rapidly-increasing funding gap.”