Around 100,000 Lebanese and Syrian citizens have left Lebanon for Syria since the worsening of the military situation between Israel and Hezbollah, the UN Refugee Agency announced today.
“It is estimated that 100 thousand people (Lebanese and Syrians) have crossed Lebanon towards Syria since the beginning of the escalation of hostilities in Lebanon. It is estimated that around 60% are Syrians and 40% Lebanese”, said the High United Nations Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
“The outflow continues. UNHCR is present at four crossing points, together with local authorities and the Syrian Red Crescent, to support the new arrivals,” Filippo Grandi of the United Nations said on social media.
According to the UNHCR, among the new arrivals, the presence of young children stands out, since “around 60% of those who crossed the border were under 18 years of age”.
“The influx of Syrian returnees and Lebanese refugees that occurred throughout Saturday, following the hostilities in Lebanon, continued on Sunday, most visibly at the Jdeidet Jabous border post”, according to the agency’s report on the current situation .
The document adds that there were “many medical emergencies, resulting mainly from exhaustion and dehydration”.
The UNHCR also said the exemption announced on Sunday by the Syrian government from the US$100 fee required for each Syrian to enter Syria “brought relief” to those fleeing.
UNHCR is increasing assistance to new arrivals, distributing emergency items, food and water, among others, to those arriving at border posts.
Furthermore, UNHCR is organizing the transport of “most vulnerable” families (Syrian and Lebanese) from the border to their final destinations in Syria.
On Sunday, 2,500 people received transportation assistance.
“In the governorates of Homs, Hama, Tartous, Aleppo and Damascus, new arrivals are being welcomed mainly by family and communities. Some local Syrian communities are also offering accommodation and other forms of assistance to Lebanese refugees,” UNHCR said .
On Sunday, the Lebanese Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, stated that Lebanon has already registered around one million internally displaced people in just one week of Israeli bombings against the Shiite strongholds of Hezbollah (Party of God).
