As economic meltdown rocks Lebanon, Syrian refugees in need struggle to be heard above the crises
Syrian refugees are struggling in Lebanon and their needs are increasingly being obscured by the broader Lebanese economic crisis, says a top official with the United Nations Refugee Agency.
The World Bank has described the economic meltdown unfolding in Lebanon as one of the worst financial crises in modern history. The country’s currency has lost 90 per cent of its value in less than two years, The UN Refugee Agency released a report last month on the vulnerability of Syrian refugees living in Lebanon. It says their living conditions are rapidly deteriorating, and that nine out of 10 are living in extreme poverty. Almost 60 per cent of Syrian refugee families in Lebanon live in dangerous, overcrowded shelters, the reportin the country faced food insecurity, with two-thirds of families limiting portion sizes.
An encounter with a Syrian family in their home in Lebanon was, she said, one of the saddest she’d had in her 30-year career working with refugees. “They were the backbone of the Lebanese economy with regards to agriculture, services, construction. … Now that equilibrium, that was not ensuring rights by any stretch, but was providing Syrians with a certain level of access to the Lebanese labour market, and some level of security of presence in the country, is really disrupted,” she said.
Ms. Clements said the UN is getting fewer resources than it received just a couple of years ago, even as Syrian refugees’ needs increase.
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