UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) — The refugee crisis in Europe is a consequence of an inadequate response to the Syrian conflict, Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam said Saturday.
"The refugee crisis that Europe is facing today is a direct result of an inadequate response [to the Syrian conflict]," Salam said in a statement at the UN Sustainable Development Summit.
According to Salam, Lebanon, the smallest country in the region, has taken in over 1.2 million Syrian refugees so far.
The four-year-long Syrian civil war forced over 4 million people to flee the country to neighboring Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, and Egypt, according to the UN data.
Lebanon has spent over $7 billion to support refugees over the last four years, according to internal record keeping, while the country's external debt amounts to about $70 billion.
