MIDEAST-CRISIS/SYRIA REFUGEES LEBANON Syrian refugees in Lebanon live in sub-standard camps, UN says

Record ID: 147761

  • Title: MIDEAST-CRISIS/SYRIA REFUGEES LEBANON Syrian refugees in Lebanon live in sub-standard camps, UN says
  • Date: 10th July 2015
  • Summary: BEKAA, LEBANON (JULY 10, 2015) (REUTERS) UNOFFICIAL CAMP FOR SYRIAN REFUGEES IN LEBANON'S BEKAA ABANDONED BUILDING AND TENTS IN THE CAMP VARIOUS OF SYRIAN REFUGEE CHILDREN IN THE CAMP VARIOUS OF SYRIAN REFUGEE WOMAN FILLING PLASTIC BOTTLES WITH WATER (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SYRIAN REFUGEE MAN FROM ALEPPO, LAMEH MOHAMMED, SAYING: "There is no work, work is so little. What can
  • Embargoed: 25th July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Lebanon
  • Country: Lebanon
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA4ZF3OTRYUVGMTB9BK5OSYMC6N
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: As Syria's neighbours now host 4 million of its refugees, many of Lebanon's 1.173 million live in unofficial tented settlement camps facing hard living conditions and long to return home.
    The U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Thursday (July 9) said that the number of Syrian refugees is set to reach 4.27 million by the end of 2015 and that more than half of those in Lebanon live in sub-standard shelters.
    Many of those Syrian refugees live in dire conditions: makeshift settlements, sheds, garages and unfinished buildings and survive extreme poverty while facing hostility and resentment in the fragile Mediterranean state.
    "There is no work, work is so little. What can I do? You can't go back to Syria; we have to accept it here. Whether you want it or not, you have to accept this situation," said one Syrian refugee man, Lameh Mohammed, who fled his hometown in Aleppo more than two years ago with his family of 10 to live in a tented settlement in Lebanon's Bekaa.
    In Lebanon, where a quarter of the population are refugees, the authorities have barred the United Nations from opening formal camps, which has meant that displaced people are scattered across 1,700 communities.
    In the unofficial camp in Bekaa where Mohammed found refuge, all Syrian refugees families who fled their war-torn country are, like him, longing to return home.
    Many others also described their harsh living conditions and said the situation is worsened with the recent cuts from aid agencies.
    "They reduced the (aid) cheques on us; we do not have enough food. It is not enough for me and my children, and my husband is sitting doing nothing. Since the war started, we left our houses and came here. The school near us was bombed so we got scared for our children and fled here. What can we do?" one Syrian refugee woman from Aleppo who wanted to remain anonymous, told Reuters.
    UNHCR's appeal for $5.5 billion to support the Syrian refugees in 2015 is only 24 percent funded, putting millions of vulnerable people at risk and has led to cuts in vital assistance.
    The U.N. World Food Programme has already cut rations for refugees because of a lack of cash.
    "People are trying to work. Whoever has something to do is working, and whoever hasn't is looking for work. We are not relying on the United Nations because they are doing nothing," said Um Omar, a Syrian refugee woman from Hama, who has been in Lebanon for the past three years.
    Most refugees from Syria's four years of war are in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt and Turkey, which has more refugees than any other country with 1.8 million Syrians.
    A further 270,000 Syrians have asked for asylum in Europe and 7.6 million more are displaced within Syria.
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