LEBANON-SYRIA CRISIS/REFUGEES Help needed for Lebanon to cope with influx of Syrian refugees, say UN officials

Record ID: 274641

  • Title: LEBANON-SYRIA CRISIS/REFUGEES Help needed for Lebanon to cope with influx of Syrian refugees, say UN officials
  • Date: 16th September 2014
  • Summary: DEIR AL-AHMAR, WEST BEKAA, LEBANON (SEPTEMBER 16, 2014) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** EXTERIOR OF DEIR AL-AHMAR MUNICIPALITY VARIOUS OF BANNER READING IN ARABIC: "Bekaa District, Baalbeck reservation, Deir Al-Ahmar municipality" MEETING BETWEEN ADMINISTRATOR OF UNDP HELEN CLARK AND UNHCR HIGH COMMISSIONER ANTONIO GUTERRES, AND HEADS OF BEKAA DISTRICT
  • Embargoed: 1st October 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Lebanon
  • Country: Lebanon
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAC0K44120EBZWN9I1TEMH1PB45
  • Story Text: Senior UN officials visited Syrian refugees in Lebanon's Bekaa region on Tuesday (September 16) and called for the international community to assist the Lebanese government in dealing with the refugee crisis.
    Helen Clark - Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and Antonio Guterres - High Commissioner of UN refugee agency (UNHCR), went to Deir al-Ahmar in West Bekaa where many Syrians have found refuge.
    United Nations said that the UN officials' mission aims to obtain a better understanding of the impact of the Syrian crisis in Lebanon and the needs for development support. Clark and Guterres met with government officials, donor counterparts, civil society organizations, women leaders, representatives of private enterprises and other development partners and to hold discussions with national and local authorities on the current response.
    Speaking to Reuters from the field, Guterres said that the reason they were here was "to be able to launch an appeal to the international community for massive support to Lebanon, to the Lebanon society, to the Lebanese economy and to the local communities in Lebanon".
    "One fourth of the Lebanon's population is Syrian. The impact in the country is huge and of course the concerns with the recent incidents have also dramatically increased. This is the moment in which the International community needs to understand that to preserve the stability of Lebanon is in everybody's interest, it is in the interest of global peace and security and that requires massive investment, not only investment in humanitarian, in humanitarian aid to the refugees, but investments in Lebanon to help the local communities cope with this challenge," he added.
    During the visit Clark and Guterres also toured around several UNDP and UNHCR projects: the water catchment pond and the water irrigation network, and the women's association for food processing among others.
    'The UN officials will see firsthand projects aimed at supporting affected Lebanese communities, examine community resilience building efforts in Lebanon and discuss ways to help these communities cope with the increasing social and economic strain on local infrastructures', a UN background published.
    "We have been working in this community for quite a number of years and we see the opportunity now to scale up that work, because the communities are all impacted by the Syrian refugee crisis. So with the support of UNHCR, and we hope with more international partners support, we can do more of these kinds of things which bring more land into production, make it possible to process the produce better, store and cool store so it goes to the market. This is creating a lot of jobs," Clark told Reuters, during her first visit to Lebanon.
    According to the United Nations, Syrian refugees registered in neighbouring countries reached three million. The biggest number of refugees fled to Lebanon (1.17 million), followed by Turkey (830 thousand) then followed by Jordan (613 thousand).
    Lebanon, with a population of only four million, has become the country with the highest concentration of refugees in the world compared to its number of population. The Lebanese government described the flood of refugees as an imminent threat to Lebanon.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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