David Cameron meets refugees in Lebanon camp

The prime minister visited a camp in the Bekka Valley, less than a mile from the Syrian border. He met a family who are due to be flown to the UK, and was invited into the tent of a Syrian mother who told him she has around $13 a month to care for her 10 children.

Mr Cameron’s visit comes his announcement last week that Britain is taking 20,000 refugees over the next five years.

During his visit to the camp, he vowed to pump more money into schemes such as education for the children affected by the conflict in Syria.

“I wanted to come here to see for myself and hear for myself the stories of refugees and what they need.

“Britain is already the second largest donor to refugee camps and to this whole crisis, really helping in a way that many other countries aren’t with serious amounts of money.

‘Warm welcome’

“We will go on doing that, including increasing the amount of money we’re giving to educate Syrian children here in Lebanon and elsewhere,” he said.

Mr Cameron announced he is appointing Watford MP Richard Harrington as minister for Syrian Refugees to ensure that those arriving receive a “warm welcome” in the UK.

“I’m also appointing a specific minister for Syrian refugees to make sure that the 20,000 that we have promised to resettle and give a good warm home in our country, that that happens rapidly, it happens well, and the whole country pulls together to deliver that,” he added.

The UNHCR-operated camp visited by Mr Cameron was just one of 1,500 in the Bekaa Valley.

He said that he wants Britain to take people directly from camps to discourage them from paying traffickers and making dangerous journey’s across the Mediterranean to the EU.