More than 1,500 Syrians,
mainly women and children, have crossed into Lebanon in recent days, fleeing
the violence in the central flashpoint province of Homs, UN and local officials
said Tuesday.
Dana Sleiman, of the United
Nations refugee agency, told AFP that 170 families had sought refuge in the
border Lebanese village of El Fakha, located in the eastern Bekaa region, and
50 others were in the nearby town of Aarsal.
"We are trying to
verify whether there are additional people in other areas and how many have
returned to Syria," Sleiman said.
She said the UNHCR, in
cooperation with local non-governmental organizations, was sending food,
blankets and other aid to the refugees.
Sleiman said each family
accounted for six or seven members.
Ahmad Moussa, a
spokesperson for the Committee of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon, said some 65
families had arrived in northern Lebanon on Monday, some of them having moved
on from the Bekaa region.
He said the majority were
from the town of Homs, which has been the focus of a fierce assault by Syrian
regime forces, and nearby Qusayr.
There have been conflicting
reports on the number of refugees crossing into Lebanon in recent days.
Officials on Monday said most of some 2,000 Syrians who had fled the violence
in Homs province at the weekend had returned home after the fighting eased.
According to the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees, 7,058 Syrians have registered in Lebanon as refugees
but that number is expected to rise with the new influx of arrivals.
No comments:
Post a Comment