NEW YORK: Malaysia assured Lebanon that help is on the way to ease their burden of hosting 1.5 million Syrian refugees.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said Malaysia will honour its pledge to host 3,000 Syrians made by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Zahid said this in a bilateral meeting with Lebanese prime minister Tammam Salam on Thursday.
“The number of Syrians is big in Lebanon that has a population of 4 million. This was why we extended our assistance to bring some of them to our country,” he said.
Friendly ties between Malaysia and Lebanon was also a factor, Zahid said adding the meeting he had with Tammam was a follow up to an earlier meeting the Prime Minister had with Najib in Turkey.
“In the meeting here we also spoke on the need to make it easier for Syrian refugees to come to Malaysia.
“ For instance, presently they have to pay a sum of about USD200 to USD300 for overstaying in Lebanon, a hindrance because many of them do not have money. These are things that will be sorted out,” he said.