In Lebanon, civilians are trapped between displacement and the impossibility of finding shelter, UNHCR denounces
For the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Filippo Grandi, more than a million Lebanese and refugees in Lebanon are trapped under Israeli bombardments: some are forced to move and others, who would like to, cannot leave. . Since Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah entered open war on September 23, more than a million people have been thrown onto or abandoned by Lebanon’s roads, more than a sixth of the population.
“There is a humanitarian challenge created by displacement and another challenge by the impossibility of moving”said Filippo Grandi. “There are still 6,000 Syrian refugees in the south, who could not leave because the situation was not safe and now they do not know where to go and it is too late”developed Ivo Friesen, head of UNHCR in Lebanon.
Other Syrian refugees, driven from their country by war, are now heading in the opposite direction, fleeing a new conflict. “We estimate, and the figures are surely higher, that 220,000 people crossed the border between Lebanon and Syria, among them 70% Syrians and 30% Lebanese”Mr. Grandi reported.
But on Friday, an Israeli airstrike cut off the main highway between Lebanon and Syria, used in recent days by crowds of displaced people. “Bombing this road, effectively blocking many people seeking refuge in Syria, is another example” obstacles faced by displaced people, he continued.
Grandi also announced that he would travel to the Syrian side of the border on Monday and then to Damascus to discuss with the authorities the fate of Syrian refugees returning to the country. He intends to plead for “they demonstrate (…) that they respect these people, their safety and their ability to return home or go where they need to go”he said, while many Syrian refugees fear mistreatment upon their return.
