Syria refugees set to exceed a third of Leba**n's population

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* Refugees expected to total 1.5 million by end of year * Influx weighing on Leba**n's eco**my, society * U.N. says lack of funding hurts school, health programmes By Sylvia Westall BEIRUT, July 3 (Reuters) - Leba**n faces the threat of political and eco**mic collapse as the number of refugees pouring in from Syria is set to exceed a third of the population, Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas said on Thursday. He said the influx of refugees fleeing Syria's civil war will have cost Leba**n's already fragile eco**my around $7.5 billion between 2012 and 2014. Border communities hosting Syrian refugees were under particular pressure because of the increase in people willing to work for low wages. "Unemployment doubled, especially among unspecialised or unskilled labour in those mostly poor areas," he said, warning that the refugee crisis "threatens to take us to an eco**mic, political and even security collapse." The turmoil next door has **t only hurt Leba**n's eco**my, but has aggravated sectarian tensions and fuelled violence.

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