Visiting German Foreign Affairs Ministers Frank-Walter Steinmeier has said that the problem in the Syrian crisis is not refugees but rather the ongoing violence and parties that “refuse to find a solution.”
Addressing a joint press conference here earlier Thursday night with his Lebanese counterpart Gebran Bassil , Steinmeier “there are in Syria parties that do not want to find a solution and we must find a new approach that can allow us to get closer to a solution, as the problem is not in the refugees but rather in the violence in Syria.”
He said his country is aware that”refugees are crossing the border into Lebanon in the hope of finding not only security, but also decent living.”
The German official said that his country is willing to support refugees in Lebanon and “we must encourage other countries to host refugees.” He said he agreed with Bassil to “increase humanitarian and medical aid to the refugees,” revealing that his country has taken in “more than 20,000 refugees.”
Steinmeier further said that “there are no guarantees from Syria regarding the creation of camps and it is not possible at the moment to establish such camps in a safe environment in Syria,” in a response to a question about the possibility of creating refugee camps inside Syria or on the Syrian-Lebanese border.
He added that “there is an intention to hold an international conference to discuss the creation of funds aimed at helping the refugees.