Germany's Merkel discusses refugee issues with Hariri in Beirut

Germany's Merkel discusses refugee issues with Hariri in Beirut
German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed refugee issues with Lebanon's prime minister.
1 min read
21 June, 2018
Saad Hariri and Angela Merkel meet in Beirut [Getty]

German Chancellor Angela Merkel held talks in Beirut on Thursday, on the second leg of a Middle East trip that comes amid debate at home over refugee policy.

Merkel met with Prime Minister Saad Hariri, whose office said they discussed the latest developments in Lebanon and the region.

She is due to meet President Michel Aoun on Friday and hold a press conference before flying back to Germany, where she faces intense pressure to curb migrant arrivals.

Before Lebanon, Merkel was in Jordan, where she met King Abdullah II, and promised the cash-strapped country $100 million in loans, along with $442 million in bilateral aid pledged for this year.

She said that she hoped the money will help Jordan push through painful IMF reforms to lower its debt which currently stands at 96 percent of the country's GDP.

Both Jordan and Lebanon have the world's two highest numbers of refugees per capita.

With anti-immigrant sentiment spreading across Europe, Merkel has been criticised by hardliners in her own governing coalition for allowing more than one million asylum seekers into Germany in 2015.

Many of them were from Syria, whose seven-year-old conflict is also responsible for the massive influx of refugees to Jordan and Lebanon.