LEBANON-SYRIAN REFUGEES HOUSING Syrian refugees worry as UN looks for 'more affordable' shelters to house them

Record ID: 274870

  • Title: LEBANON-SYRIAN REFUGEES HOUSING Syrian refugees worry as UN looks for 'more affordable' shelters to house them
  • Date: 3rd March 2015
  • Summary: KOUSHA, AKKAR, LEBANON (RECENT - FEBRUARY 23, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ABANDONED BUILDING IN THE VILLAGE OF KOUSHA IN AKKAR, NORTH LEBANON SERVING AS A COLLECTIVE SHELTER FOR SYRIAN REFUGEES VARIOUS OF REFUGEES GATHERING IN FRONT OF THE BUILDING VARIOUS OF REFUGEE WOMAN WITH CHILDREN VARIOUS OF WASHED CLOTHES LINE COLLECTIVE SHELTER IN KOUSHA BEIRUT, LEBANON (RECENT- FEB
  • Embargoed: 18th March 2015 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Lebanon
  • Country: Lebanon
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA301C7Y5C2VXD09N5QIK6GR5XY
  • Story Text: Syrian refugees living in collective shelters in Lebanon face an uncertain future as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) looks for an alternative housing to accommodate them.
    UNHCR has set up temporary collective shelters to house some of the Syrian refugees over the past year in different areas of Lebanon, including Bekaa and Akkar.
    But for the next few months, until June 2015, the agency says it will be looking for less costly shelters to house Akkar's refugees.
    "When the numbers of Syrian refugees were much less, collective shelters were one way that we were able to respond to an immediate shelter need. Right now, less than 2% of the refugee population are living in collective shelters, and collective shelters themselves really have very high maintenance cost and they are, at a per capital level basis, they are much more expensive then other less affordable secured welling. So we tend now to favor other options," said UNHCR representative in Lebanon, Ninette Kelley.
    "We have given a lot of lead time and we have done this with the municipal authorities and in consultations with the refugees themselves, and we have told them that we cannot continue to support this relatively high cost options so what we are doing is trying to find alternative shelters for them, and we have got a lot of time in order to do that working with them themselves, because refugees also have the means to find shelters, so some of them don't need our help but those who do, we are providing it," she added assuring that UNHCR will be working to prevent any refugee from staying without shelter.
    Collective shelters that are affected by this decision are distributed between Kherbet Dawoud, Kousha, Wadi Al-Jamouss and Miniara, all in Lebanon's northern Akkar.
    Syrian refugees living in collective shelters echoed their concerns about their future and voiced frustration with the UN.
    One Syrian refugee from Al-Qusair, Nejm El-Dine Abdallah, who has been in Lebanon for the past two years and a half said he has been moving across different villages in Lebanon before finding a place in the collective shelter in Kherbet Dawoud village in Akkar.
    But he now fears facing the same problem all over again, if his current shelter becomes unavailable.
    "I fled the bombings, killings, insults and humiliation. We came to Lebanon and the (United) Nations humiliated me even more," Abdallah said.
    Another refugee man, Ali Mohammed from Hama, said he and his family of five had faced many problems during the past three years, moving from Baalbek, in the eastern Bekaa Valley close to the border with Syria, to the north of the country looking for a shelter they can afford.
    He says all what he cares about now is finding a shelter.
    "We were surprised to know that the United Nations wants to get us out (of here), and this is a problem. Most of the families here don't have houses or money for rent. People don't have money to pay, so we want a solution for this problem," he said.
    Kanj Al-Kanj, a Syrian refugee man in his sixties from Al-Qusair voiced his anger about the situation and called on the international community to help Syrian refugees return to their country.
    Father of two boys and six girls, has fled to Lebanon three years ago and has been living in this collective shelter for the past ten months.
    "Where should we go? Either find us a job or take us back to our country. We call upon the free world, the Arab countries, the European ones and everyone to take us back to our country, we cannot bear more than this, we had enough, we want nothing but to go back to our country, this is the most important thing; it is more important than heating, food, drinks or housing. We wish to go back to our country, [People in the background cheering for him] and we ask all humanitarian and international associations to take us back to our country, this is the most important thing," Al-Kanj said as people cheered behind him.
    Lebanon had started tightening entry requirements for Syrians since January this year, as it tries to stem the flow of refugees from the war-torn country.
    Lebanon, whose population is less than five million, hosts more than a million Syrian refugees and has the highest per capita concentration of refugees in the world.
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