BEIRUT: Interior Minister Marwan Charbel Sunday said refugees entering Lebanon illegally escaping violence in their country should be monitored in a bid to control crime.

“It is important we monitor refugees that are entering the country illegally due to acts of violence in their country as some of them, at times, commit theft and murder,” Charbel told Voice of Lebanon radio station in an interview aired Sunday morning.

Since the uprising in neighboring Syria began in mid March, thousands of Syrians have crossed into Lebanon through legal and illegal border crossings, although measures taken by the Syrian and Lebanese armies to control the border have drastically brought the numbers of refugees.

There are an estimated 3,798 Syrian nationals registered with the U.N. High Commission for Refugees and Lebanon’s Higher Relief Commission, the agency said in late November.

Around 750 of those registered are under the age of four, the biggest age group. The next largest group is made up of children between 5 and 11 years of age.

Many decline to register with the agency fearing they might be pursued by Syrian authorities.

Charbel also praised the work of the Social Affairs Ministry and the Higher Relief Committee in aiding a large number of Syrians in Lebanon by securing all their needs.

The Social Affairs Ministry has repeatedly defended its work housing refugees in the northern region against criticism.

Charbel also warned against the deepening rift between Lebanon’s rival political groups that he said might be translated on the ground and against attempts to incite sectarian strife

Asked about the return of assassinations in the country, Charbel said: “Lebanon is a fertile land [for such a thing].”