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Updated September 29th, 2021 at 22:12 IST

United Nations concerned over deteriorating living conditions of Syrians in Lebanon

The United Nations (UN) agencies on Wednesday, September 29 warned that over 1 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon are experiencing deteriorating conditions.

Reported by: Aanchal Nigam
Syrian refugees in Lebanon
IMAGE: AP | Image:self
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United Nations (UN) agencies on September 29 warned that over 1 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon are experiencing deteriorating conditions leaving nine out of ten of them in extreme poverty. The depleting conditions in the Middle Eastern nation come despite the assistance sent for Syrians living in Lebanon which is engulfed in crisis. As per a rrpoert by Associated Press, one in four citizens is a refugee in Lebanon. Among the Syrians, child marriage and labour is on the spike and thousands of others face the risk of eviction. 

The yearly report on the conditions of Syrians living in Lebanon was published jointly by the UN’s refugee agency United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),  its World Food Program, and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). In a statement, the UN agencies said that the cost of essential food items has spiked over seven times in late 2019 when the financial crisis in Lebanon began to unfold.

The report said that the subsistence food basket includes only 13 items such as potatoes, bread, eggs and powdered milk. The UN described it as the minimum to survive “not live in dignity.” Meanwhile, Lebanon is witnessing a historic economic crisis triggering the currency to crash and losing almost 90% of its value. This has further pushed 55% of the Lebanese population below the poverty line and shooting up the prices and unemployment rate. 

The crisis prevailing in Lebanon have made the situation of Syrian refugees far more worse with many of them living in temporary houses with low paying jobs. As per AP, Ayaki Ito, UNHCR Representative in Lebanon warned of long-term consequences. Ito also called for increasing the support of Syrians in the foreign nation adding, “we cannot fail them now.”

UNHCR, WFP, UNICEF jointly said that Syrian children are facing a lot of hardships as the attendance in schools has dropped significantly. As per the report, school attendance for children between 6 and 14 years old has plunged by 25% in 2021 while nearly 30% of children in school-age have never attended any institution. Meanwhile, thousands of other children from Syria living in Lebanon are engaged in child labour and one out of five girls between the age of 15 and 19 were married. The UN agencies noted that the same trend was persistent for at least three years. 

IMAGE: AP

(With AP inputs)

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Published September 29th, 2021 at 22:12 IST

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