BEIRUT:
More than 4,500 Syrians fleeing a brutal crackdown on a revolt against the
regime of President Bashar al-Assad have found shelter in neighbouring Lebanon,
with hundreds crossing the border in the last two weeks, the United Nations
said Friday.
A
report released by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said 4,510 Syrians, including
women and children, had registered in northern Lebanon, up from 3,798 at the
beginning of December.
The
majority of those who fled to Lebanon this month hail from the central Homs
region and nearby Tal Kalakh, where regime forces have sought to crush massive
protests demanding Assad step down.
Most
of them had settled with host families "in difficult circumstances"
in villages near the border as well as in the Akkar district, located between
the Lebanese-Syrian border and the coastal city of Tripoli, the report said.
Nineteen
wounded Syrians, including a 11-year old girl, were also hospitalised in the
north this week alone, according to UNHCR.
"Several
were in coma when they reached the hospitals and one person reportedly died
from his injuries," read the report.
Syria
has planted landmines along its border with Lebanon in a bid to prevent weapons
smuggling and dissidents from fleeing the fierce crackdown by the regime in
Damascus against a nine-month revolt, Lebanese officials in the north have
said.
Lebanon
and Syria share a 330-kilometre (205-mile) border but have yet to agree on
official demarcation.
Syrian
troops have regularly staged incursions into neighbouring Lebanon in recent
weeks, killing at least three people when they opened fire on border villages,
according to Lebanese officials.
Beirut
is bitterly divided between pro- and anti-Damascus camps, and there are growing
fears the bloodshed in Syria could spill over the border.
Lebanon's
Western-backed opposition, Washington and the United Nations have condemned the
incursions.
But the Lebanese
government, largely dominated by Hezbollah, a strong ally of the Syrian regime,
has for the most part stayed silent on the issue.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2011/Dec-16/157104-more-than-4500-syrians-sheltered-in-lebanon-un.ashx#axzz1gtLKaQwu
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