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epa04597316 European Union Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, Christos Stylianides (L), visits Syrian refugee communities living in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, 31 January 2015. According to local sources Stylianides heard from a number of refugees in the al-Majdal camp near Hosh Al-Harimi about their difficulties including a need for schools, while a UN press release stated an additional €37 million, part of a new package of €136 million to help those affected by the crisis both within and without Syria, in humanitarian aid has been offered to Lebanon to assist the country which has been flooded with refugees fleeing the civil war. EPA/LUCIE PARSAGHIAN Image Credit: EPA

Beirut: A delegation from the European Union visiting Lebanon says the EU is providing 37 million euros ($42 million) to help the Arab country cope with more than a million Syrian refugees.

Christos Stylianides, the European commissioner for humanitarian aid and crisis management, made the announcement Saturday after meeting Prime Minister Tammam Salam in Beirut.

Stylianides later traveled to the eastern Bekaa Valley to meet Syrian refugees living in small camps.

He told reporters in the Bekaa: “Lebanon is not alone. The European Union stands by the government and the people of Lebanon.”

The UN refugees agency says Lebanon is hosting at least 1,150,000 Syrian refugees, a quarter the size of Lebanon’s own population of 4.5 million.