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Saturday 20 Apr 2024
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LOCAL EDITION
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, center, speaks with Lebanese and Syrian displaced students, during her visit to a Lebanese public school, where both students studying together, in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, June 22, 2018. Merkel is visiting Jordan and Lebanon, both neighbors of war-torn Syria, amid an escalating domestic row over migration. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
BEIRUT (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel has visited a public school in Lebanon's capital Beirut, where many of the students are Syrian refugees.
There are over a million Syrian refugees living in Lebanon, representing nearly a quarter of the population. This makes Lebanon the largest host country in the region, putting a huge strain on the economy. In 2017, Germany gave Lebanon 370 million euros to help with the refugees.
Merkel met Friday with students in a mixed public school where Lebanese and Syrian students learn together. Merkel told one student in English: "We try to help you get an education." The chancellor passed out jerseys from Germanys national soccer team, currently competing for the World Cup, and tossed a ball with the students.
Merkel came to Lebanon from Jordan.
