Daily Star - Plumbly commends effort to provide assistance to Syrian refugees in the country, April 18, 2012

BEIRUT: U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly highlighted the need for urgent humanitarian help during a visit Tuesday to Syrian refugees in north Lebanon.

“We all hope that political efforts for a solution in Syria will bear fruit and that those who have been displaced will soon be able to return to their homes,” Plumbly said during his visit.

“In the meantime, assisting them in their need is an urgent humanitarian obligation, and one to which Lebanon has risen impressively,” he added.

The U.N. envoy praised the government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati, particularly the Higher Relief Committee, for the “excellent job” it has been doing, adding that the U.N. will continue providing assistance as long as necessary.

During his tour, Plumbly met displaced Syrian families who had sought refuge in the northern border area of Wadi Khaled.

He also met U.N. staff working there as well as local authorities in Wadi Khaled, Mashta Hammoud and Mashta Hasan, who briefed him on the situation in the area.

Later Tuesday, Plumbly held meetings with representatives of the Lebanese Army and lawmakers from the Akkar region.

Plumbly said the aim of his daylong visit was to “gain a better understanding of the situation here.”

“There are many concerns in Lebanon about the crisis in Syria,” he said. “But the impact of the crisis is probably most acute here in the north of Lebanon because of the proximity to the Syrian border and because of the displacement here of Syrian citizens who have sought refuge in Lebanon from the violence in their country.”

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and Lebanese authorities, over 9,600 Syrians have registered for assistance in north Lebanon, many of them in the impoverished governorate of Akkar.

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