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David Cameron meets refugees in Lebanon camp David Cameron meets refugees in Lebanon camp
(about 1 hour later)
David Cameron has visited a Lebanese refugee camp amid growing pressure on the UK to do more to help alleviate Europe's refugee crisis.David Cameron has visited a Lebanese refugee camp amid growing pressure on the UK to do more to help alleviate Europe's refugee crisis.
The UK has agreed to take in 20,000 Syrian refugees from camps in the region, and Mr Cameron met a family who are due to be flown to the UK. The UK has agreed to take in 20,000 Syrian refugees by 2020 from camps in the region, and Mr Cameron met a family who are due to be flown to the UK.
"I wanted to come here to see for myself and to hear for myself stories of refugees," said the prime minister."I wanted to come here to see for myself and to hear for myself stories of refugees," said the prime minister.
It comes as Europe sees a huge influx of people, many from the Middle East.It comes as Europe sees a huge influx of people, many from the Middle East.
Hundreds of thousands of refugees have been making the perilous journey across the Mediterranean - most fleeing conflict in Syria but large numbers also fleeing violence and poverty in Afghanistan, Eritrea and Kosovo.
The prime minister's visit to Lebanon comes as:The prime minister's visit to Lebanon comes as:
Ministers, meeting in Brussels, are due to vote on a plan from May to redistribute an initial 40,000 asylum seekers from Syria and Eritrea through mandatory quotas. Ministers, meeting in Brussels, are due to vote on a plan from May to redistribute an initial 40,000 asylum seekers through mandatory quotas. The scheme wants to redistribute a total of 160,000 across 23 EU states.
Home Secretary Theresa May is expected to attend and oppose plans for any quota system. Under EU law the UK, Ireland and Denmark are exempt from the quota plan.Home Secretary Theresa May is expected to attend and oppose plans for any quota system. Under EU law the UK, Ireland and Denmark are exempt from the quota plan.
AnalysisAnalysis
James Landale, BBC deputy political editorJames Landale, BBC deputy political editor
It is David Cameron's first visit to Lebanon and he is here with a clear aim: to address the criticism that Britain is not doing enough to tackle Europe's refugee crisis.It is David Cameron's first visit to Lebanon and he is here with a clear aim: to address the criticism that Britain is not doing enough to tackle Europe's refugee crisis.
So he walked around a refugee camp in the Bekaa valley just one mile from the Syrian border to meet just some of the families benefitting from British aid.So he walked around a refugee camp in the Bekaa valley just one mile from the Syrian border to meet just some of the families benefitting from British aid.
He also visited a school at heart of Beirut supported by British cash where Syrian and Lebanese study alongside each other.He also visited a school at heart of Beirut supported by British cash where Syrian and Lebanese study alongside each other.
The PM's argument is that this is the help Syrian refugees need rather than any encouragement to risk the dangerous journey to Europe.The PM's argument is that this is the help Syrian refugees need rather than any encouragement to risk the dangerous journey to Europe.
So to a nation now familiar with television pictures of Syrian refugees fleeing across Europe, Mr Cameron wants to remind people of where the vast majority are, namely in Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and Syria itself.So to a nation now familiar with television pictures of Syrian refugees fleeing across Europe, Mr Cameron wants to remind people of where the vast majority are, namely in Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and Syria itself.
Mr Cameron claims British aid is dissuading "hundreds of thousands" of refugees from heading to Europe.
Aid agencies on the ground suggest poverty and an inability to pay the traffickers is a more important factor. And while welcoming British aid, they also suggest it is nowhere near enough.
So today is about the PM trying to reframe a debate that has raged for many weeks, a debate that has not always gone his way.
Migrant crisis: Why is it erupting now?Migrant crisis: Why is it erupting now?
EU migration: Crisis in graphicsEU migration: Crisis in graphics
Mr Cameron, who is making his first visit to Lebanon as prime minister, said the UK's focus was on how to help Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan "to make sure we discourage people from making this dangerous journey to Europe". The vast majority of Syrian refugees have fled to neighbouring countries such as Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, with 1.1 million Syrian refugees registered in Lebanon alone.
Following a meeting with Lebanon's prime minister Tammam Salam, Mr Cameron said the UK was "determined to do all we can" to strengthen the security of Lebanon. Mr Cameron, on his first visit to Lebanon as prime minister, said the UK's focus was on how to help refugees there and in Jordan "to make sure we discourage people from making this dangerous journey to Europe".
Following a meeting with Lebanon prime minister Tammam Salam, Mr Cameron said the UK was "determined to do all we can" to strengthen the security.
He said training had already been provided to more than 5,000 Lebanese soldiers and the UK had helped to build a series of watchtowers on the border with Syria.He said training had already been provided to more than 5,000 Lebanese soldiers and the UK had helped to build a series of watchtowers on the border with Syria.
The UK will also "train, equip and mentor the Lebanese armed forces", he said. Lebanon is to receive £29m of the £100m in aid recently pledged by Mr Cameron to help those who have been displaced by the conflict in Syria and in surrounding countries. It brings the UK's total contribution over three years to more than £1bn.
Lebanon is to receive £29m of the £100m in aid recently pledged by Mr Cameron to help those who have been displaced by the conflict within Syria and in surrounding countries. It brings the UK's total contribution over three years to more than £1bn.
It will pay for food packages for thousands of refugees, as well as clean water, blankets, stoves, mattresses, counselling support and play areas for children.It will pay for food packages for thousands of refugees, as well as clean water, blankets, stoves, mattresses, counselling support and play areas for children.
There are 1.1 million Syrian refugees registered in Lebanon, which is more than a quarter of Lebanon's population. The prime minister met families living in one of the 1,500 refugee camps in the Bekaa Valley, which houses 525 Syrians in 90 tents and is less than a mile from the Syrian border.
The camp visited by the prime minister is operated by the UN's refugee agency and is one of 1,500 in the Bekaa Valley, which is less than a mile from the Syrian border. He was invited into the tent of a mother of 10, who told him how she struggled to feed her family on reduced handouts of 13.50 US dollars (£8.75) a month.
Mr Cameron also watched the enrolment of pupils on the first day of the academic year at the Sed el Bouchrieh school in Beirut. Mr Cameron also visited the Sed el Boucrieh school in Beirut, which has tripled in size to 900 pupils due to the influx of Syrian refugees.
At the school Syrian children are joining classes alongside Lebanese children as part of a drive, part-funded by UK aid, to integrate refugees into the wider society. Meanwhile, former Labour foreign secretary David Miliband said the UK had to do more to help.
The former Labour foreign secretary David Miliband criticised the UK government for only agreeing to resettle 20,000 refugees over the next five years. Mr Miliband, who heads up the aid agency International Rescue Committee, said it was inadequate to take just 4,000 refugees from Syria per year, adding it was the equivalent of the number arriving on the beaches of Greek island Lesbos every day.
Mr Miliband, who heads up the aid agency International Rescue Committee (IRC), said it was inadequate to take just 4,000 refugees from Syria per year and said it was the equivalent of the number arriving on the beaches of Greek island Lesbos every day.