Source: Lebanon to Ask for $270 million in Kuwait Conference on Syria Refugees

Lebanon will ask for 270 million dollars during a donor conference in Kuwait on January 30 to meet the demands of refugees escaping the violence in Syria, a ministerial source said Thursday.

The source told An Nahar newspaper that only 60 million dollars have been so far donated by some European countries.

But the source said that Lebanon's appeal will not include a condition of raising the funds during a certain timeframe.

During a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo earlier this month, Lebanon appealed for 180 million dollars to help around 200,000 Syrians and around 10,000 Palestinians who have escaped the fighting between rebels seeking to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad and government troops.

The Lebanese government, which has promised to keep its border open to refugees, called in early December for 363 million dollars to cope with the influx.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees estimates there are more than 212,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

The influx has threatened to bring the number of the displaced to 420,000 in June.