Charbel attributes rise in crime to Syrian refugees

Crime has risen dramatically in Lebanon because of the flight of Syrians to the country, Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said Thursday, adding that road safety was suffering from an alarming lack of state oversight. The minister, speaking during a conference on vehicle safety, said “theft rates are up 50 percent because of the movement [of people] from Syria to Lebanon.” Charbel also commented on the traffic situation, saying “95 percent of those driving trucks are not Lebanese,” a fact he termed a “big problem.” He added that half the cars on the roads had forged license plates, and that only 1,000 Internal Security Forces personnel were available to control traffic in the country. He criticized allowing road safety to become subject to “political division” and said he was preparing a draft law that would require teaching driver’s education during the final three years of school.