LEBANON: British International Development Secretary Justine Greening visits Syrian refugees in Lebanon and announces additional 50 million pounds funding for the humanitarian response to the Syria crisis

Record ID: 274417

  • Title: LEBANON: British International Development Secretary Justine Greening visits Syrian refugees in Lebanon and announces additional 50 million pounds funding for the humanitarian response to the Syria crisis
  • Date: 9th July 2013
  • Summary: BEKAA, LEBANON (JULY 9, 2013) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF THE AID CENTRE SYRIAN REFUGEES OUTSIDE CENTRE VARIOUS OF TRUCK FILLED WITH AID BOXES VARIOUS BRITISH SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT JUSTINE GREENING, IN CONVERSATION POSTER READING (ENGLISH AND ARABIC) 'WORLD VISION - OUR VISION FOR LEBANON - ANCHOR'/ UNHCR (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRITISH SECRETARY OF S
  • Embargoed: 24th July 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Lebanon
  • Country: Lebanon
  • Topics: Conflict,General
  • Reuters ID: LVA4DJVZJTZXEVDCWFQW8RE459H9
  • Story Text: British International Development Secretary Justine Greening announced further aid for Syrian refugees as she visited an aid centre in Lebanon on Tuesday (July 9).
    Greening said the UK would allocate a further 50 million pounds (74.33 million U.S.Dollars) to help Syrian refugees in Lebanon and for Lebanese people affected by the crisis.
    "I'm here in Lebanon today, to see for myself the huge crisis of refugees that Lebanon is facing, well over half a million already, that's projected to double by Christmas. We have to make sure that we not only take care of the refugees, but also that we support many host communities that these refugees are living in. The UK government today is announcing fifty million pounds which will not just help support the refugees with shelter, food, medical assistance, but will also make sure that the basic services that communities rely on in parts of Lebanon that has been particularly hit by refugees coming in, that they can cope with the sheer numbers that have arrived," Greening told Reuters TV at a 'Save The Children' aid centre in Bekaa.
    The International Development Secretary visited an informal settlement hosted by Save the Children International and a food voucher distribution centre operated by World Vision under the World Food Programme.
    'Save the Children' estimate more than two thousand Syrian refugees are arriving in Lebanon every day. Thousands of Syrians have found shelter and humanitarian relief in Bekaa itself.
    The British International Development department said the 50 million pounds will help to meet emergency food and shelter needs for the 585,000 refugees already in Lebanon and will also help strengthen the infrastructure needed to cope with a growing number of refugees. Greening said the fresh aid would also help refugees still in Syria.
    "We are also providing a huge amount of support for refugees inside Syria and we have announced an overall doubling of our support. Today what I am announcing is that a portion of that will come direct to Lebanon in reflection of the fact how many refugees from outside of Syria are now here, but it's absolutely vital that not only do we support the refugees that are still in Syria, and there are many millions of people displaced in Syria, but we also make sure we confront what is not just a Syrian crisis, now a regional crisis, the impact of what is over million refugees that now have left Syria, with more planned."
    Lebanon now hosts more refugees as a percentage of the population than any other country in the world, creating tensions around the availability of housing and putting pressure on Lebanon's education and health care systems, as well as water, sanitation and other infrastructure, the UK aid department said.
    The U.N. estimates at least 1.6 million people have fled more than two years of civil war in Syria, which has claimed at least 93,000 lives, with numbers expected to reach 3.45 million by the end of 2013. Most of the refugees have fled to neighbouring Lebanon and Jordan where UNHCR said it had counted 470,457 and 473,587 in mid May 2013.
    Syria's population is 23 million.
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