LEBANON: Ramadan compounds difficulties facing Syrian refugees in Lebanon, who fear they are being forgotten

Record ID: 276179

  • Title: LEBANON: Ramadan compounds difficulties facing Syrian refugees in Lebanon, who fear they are being forgotten
  • Date: 3rd August 2011
  • Summary: VIEW OF WADI KHALED AND MOSQUE ANNOUNCING EVENING PRAYERS AT THE TIME OF BREAKING FAST MOSQUE MINARET
  • Embargoed: 18th August 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Lebanon, Lebanon
  • Country: Lebanon
  • Topics: Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVA6PBXECLHJ3TCKVSWZKTEGKB2J
  • Story Text: Far from home and strangers in another's land, for Syrians refugees in Lebanon, this year's month of Ramadan is especially poignant. A school in Wadi Khaled in northern Lebanon has become a refuge for scores of Syrian families, who are among thousands that have fled across the border to escape a brutal crackdown by President Bashar al-Assad's security forces.
    The refugees occupying the classrooms of Al-Ihsan school are learning lessons in patience and fortitude. Forced to idle away long, hot days in the school playground, waiting for the violence across the border to end, many, like Mohammad, feel cut-off and forgotten.
    ''The first thing that we face in Ramadan is psychological difficulty. We left our homes which have been destroyed and ransacked, and we came here and we are breaking our fast here. And it is true that Lebanese families have hosted us but we are guests here; we are strangers, far from our families, far from our homes. So there is a lot of emotional pressure during this month. And secondly, we are lacking in aid. We are receiving very little aid,'' said Mohammad, who has spent more than two months at the school, which lies close to the Syrian border.
    Mother of two small boys, Abir went further and accused Arab countries of abandoning the Syrian people.
    ''I don't see one Arab country or charity organization that is taking care of us. All the Arab countries are silent, they are all looking after their interests only. So where are we on their mind? We are a people, not just a government. The government does not represent the people. Our people are persecuted, they don't have a word in anything,'' she said, covering her face with her veil.
    Another man, with an injured leg, said he was in urgent need of surgery to treat his wounds.
    "I need an operation now and I have been waiting for 25 days to receive aid to be admitted to the hospital. I was wounded in my leg and I need a second operation and if you ask them for a bottle of medicine, they don't get it for you,'' he complained.
    Nabil, who wore a neck brace, lamented that Syrians have "lost all our rights."
    Many of the 300 refugees in the school are from Syrian border villages like Tel Kelakh or from villages surrounding the city of Homs, in central Syria.
    The Syrian authorities latest crackdown is on the city of Hama where at least 122 people have been killed since Saturday, triggering international condemnation and calls from U.S. senators for sanctions on Syria's energy sector.
    Syria rights activists say more than 1,600 civilians have been killed in the crackdown that began in Deraa in March, unleashing a popular uprising for political freedoms.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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