MASHARIH AL-QAA , Lebanon
The beginning of spring promises
warmth, a source of relief – albeit a small one – for hundreds of Syrian
refugees in Masharih al-Qaa. Many of the refugees who fled Homs
Around 300 families of refugees are
currently living on the agricultural fields running parallel to the border near
al-Qaa, which is the final village in the northern Bekaa before Syria
The families are living in dire
conditions, trapped by the ongoing conflict between the Syrian army and the
Free Syrian Army rebels inside the towns and cities they fled from and almost
total neglect in the Bekaa.
The Lebanese government has so far
failed to assign the Higher Relief Committee and the Social Affairs Ministry to
provide aid to them, although these bodies are providing assistance to refugees
in Tripoli Syria
Refugees here say there is a lot of
talk on TV and images of food and medical aid that is supposedly being handed
out to them, but they have not received any of it.
Samira, 40, and her five children,
left the area of Fairouzi in Homs and arrived in
Lebanon village of Joura
“I consider the lives my children
more precious than anything else in the world,” she says.
She says they eat plants and
vegetables that she gathers from nearby fields, or bread and oil that she buys
with the little money that her husband is paid in return for occasional
agricultural work.
The family’s last meal was
cauliflower cooked over an open flame.
Things are no different for Um
Louay’s family, which has 10 members. They left the village of Joussieh
Inside the family’s shelter, there
are only some folded blankets in one corner and a number of basic cooking
utensils in another.
“I wait every day for what the
owners of the nearby field can offer me,” she says, holding her 2-year-old on
her hip.
“A lot of journalists come here and
talk to us and ask us about our situation. And then they leave and it’s for
nothing,” she says. “No one who can help us has come here, not even to offer
some basic food supplies.”
Um Louay and her family fled their
home in Syria
The international highway seems
desolate on the way toward Dora on the western side of Masharih. The village is
filled with Syrian refugees staying in residents’ homes and on their farms.
Many are emotionally exhausted from fear, hunger and illnesses among the
children.
Abu Ayman’s family left the village of Nizarieh
A pickup affiliated with a charity
organization pulls up, carrying blankets and toys. The children of the family
rush toward it to receive their share.
According to Abu Ayman, they left Syria
“What they did cannot be fathomed by
any human mind. For no justification, except blind revenge,” he says.
Since he arrived in Dora, he has
received only one food package, which was only enough for three days, along
with some blankets and mattresses.
Sheikh Ayman Abdel-Wahhab, the
driver of the pickup, says his organization is the only one to have arrived in
this area, at the request of Dar al-Fatwa, which is part of a coalition of
civil society organizations helping refugees in the Bekaa.
They work under the supervision of
Dar al-Fatwa and Caritas and help 50 families from Qusayr and Rabla who have
settled near Masharih al-Qaa.
He blames the current situation on
the al-Qaa municipality, which has taken no action to help, not even requesting
assistance from the Higher Relief Committee.
He says that this would require a
decision from the Cabinet and there are other reasons for the neglect.
“Because the Bekaa is so far from Beirut
Al-Qaa mayor Milad Rizk confirms Abdel-Wahhab’s
account, and says his municipality has only limited financial resources and is
paralyzed by an inter-council dispute over whether to get involved, and how.
By Rakan al-Fakih
No comments:
Post a Comment