BEIRUT:
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is now assisting some 26,000
Syrian refugees in the country and increases the number of people it helps by
2,000 each week, according to the organization’s latest report.
Tens
of thousands of people have sought refuge in Lebanon as the Syrian regime has
cracked down on an anti-regime uprising that has now entered its 14th month.
In
recent weeks, the UNHCR has been increasing the number of refugees it aids in
order to help those it is unable to officially count. There are 14,514
registered Syrian refugees in the country, a number smaller than the total of
26,000, because UNHCR has had trouble agreeing with the government on
registration operations, particularly in Tripoli.
Local
aid workers and Islamic charity officials say that the total number of refugees
in the country is in fact closer to 42,000.
In
a sign of the length of the conflict and refugee displacement, UNHCR reported
that secondary health cases such as pregnancies are increasing in the refugee
community. The organization says it is looking to external donors to cover the
new expenditures incurred by these cases.
Meanwhile,
aid distribution to the north of the country resumed this week. The
organization had not distributed materials in the north for several weeks after
experiencing a “delay” in distribution, UNHCR officials said.
The
UNHCR also continued aid distribution to the Bekaa, where it has recently
expanded operations.
The
UNHCR has also registered 817 people in around Beirut and said that it is
checking reports that refugees are staying in areas which they have not yet
documented.
“The
UNHCR is also receiving reports of Syrians displaced in other areas of Lebanon
and assessment missions are being taken to ascertain with greater accuracy
these reports and potential needs,” the report says.
Local
charities are already assisting large groups of Syrian refugees in other areas
of the country, including the city of Sidon.
The
UNHCR recently received millions of dollars from the United States and the
United Kingdom to fund its operations with Syrian refugees in Jordan, Iraq,
Turkey and Lebanon.
But UNHCR says it will need
millions more, and has put out an international call for donors.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2012/May-12/173154-number-of-refugees-aided-by-unhcr-growing-rapidly.ashx
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