“There were two attacks and a huge crater was created in the no-man’s land between the Syrian side and the Lebanese side. Rula Amin, Senior Communications Advisor for the United Nations refugee agency, said it is difficult for vehicles to pass through this road. UNHCRfor the Middle East and North Africa.
Speaking from Amman, Ms. Amin said that the people at Masnaa intersection were very so much so that they “were so desperate to flee Lebanon that they actually walked through that destroyed road.”
Hundreds of thousands of people have crossed into Syria via this route in the past 10 days, according to the United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Emergency exit
“Conflict is increasing,” said Mathieu Luciano, Director of the IOM Office in Lebanon. Speaking from Beirut, he said from September 21 to October 3, approx 235,000 people have crossed the border into Syria by land, including 82,000 Lebanese and 152,000 Syrians.
Citing Lebanese authorities, Mr. Luciano added that during the same period, 50,000 mostly Lebanese people and 10,000 Syrians were flown out of Beirut airport and about 1,000 people fled by sea.
An estimated one million people have been displaced in Lebanon since October last year, amid increasing firefights on both sides of the UN-patrolled Green Line separating Lebanon and Israel, after the war. War broke out in Gaza.
IOM data indicate that as of October 2, 400,000 people have been displaced in just the past two weeksamid ongoing Israeli military operations in Lebanon, including ground attacks in the south.
The difficult situation of immigrant workers
“Of these, more than 165,000 people are living in 800 collective shelters across the country. These are schools that the Government urgently opened,” said IOM’s Mr. Luciano. “Of course, this number continues to increase as heavy shelling continues south of the Beqaa. [Valley]in Beirut and other areas.”
Humanitarians say there is particular concern for the plight of 180,000 migrant workers in Lebanon – many of them female domestic workers – who have been abandoned by mass displacement.
“We are receiving There are increasing reports of migrant maids being abandoned by their Lebanese employers; or left on the streets or in homes when their owners fled…They come from Ethiopia, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Bangladesh and the Philippines. And they are also deeply affected by domestic violence.”
According to Lebanese health authorities, Israeli ground and air attacks across Lebanon included southern Beirut killing 37 people in the past 24 hourswith 151 others injured.
Great health needs
United Nations humanitarian agencies and partners have spent months strengthening Lebanon’s medical capacity for the large number of wounded. “This is already happening” at the country’s medical facilities, IOM’s Mr. Luciano told journalists in Geneva, as news broke that the first humanitarian cargo plane had landed in Beirut with enough medical supplies to treat tens of thousands of injured patients.
“Let’s be clear If the situation continues to spread, we will all face major challenges in how we respond,” he added.
Welcoming the news that the humanitarian flight has arrived in Beirut, the head of the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said follow-on flights were planned “to carry more trauma support supplies, as well as mental health and cholera supplies.”
The pain of people returning to Syria
For those who cross the border into Syria, UNHCR said they face the prospect of having to return to damaged homes and little access to basic services.
“What we are seeing today is that with the risks that these refugees are facing in Lebanon as a result of the bombings – lack of adequate shelter, lack of access to services – is causing Refugees have to make a very, very difficult choice, so either stay. in Lebanon with that increased risk…or make the decision to turn back and cross the border into Syria with all the other risks in mind,” said UNHCR’s Ms. Amin.
Since October 2023, the UN refugee agency has distributed more than 223,000 items to individuals in need and provided cash assistance to 70,000 people.
The response also includes carrying out repairs or supporting mass shelters, with emergency medical care provided in a network of 42 hospitals across Lebanon.
Ms. Amin continued: “As the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate, UNHCR is working to increase the supply of much-needed relief items to meet the growing need and prepare for any escalation. and further evacuations may occur.”
