As of August 1st, the Government of Lebanon’s Higher Relief Council reported 828 people killed, 3240 injured and more than 913,760 (a quarter of the population) displaced or currently the road, living in schools and public institutions where the most basic hygienic requirements are not met. The UN statistics are slightly lower, stating that 700,000 refugees have been forced to flee their homes.
Syrian citizens are providing shelter for many displaced families in Damacus. Local UNHCR staff distribute mattresses and blankets, while the International Committee of the Red Cross provided more than 1,000 families with emergency aid in eight villages south of Tyre. The UNICEF is helping airlifting family water kits and Vitamin A for young children, as well as supplying the Syrian Arab Red Crescent with various relief items. Help and medical aid is gradually being organized as humanitarian needs rapidly grow, with estimates pointing out that the population in need of food aid will increase in the near future from 260,000 to between 400,000 and 500,000.
It is however extremely difficult for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees to truly be efficient. The UNHCR cancelled one of three aid convoys carrying tents and essential supplies from the Syrian capital to Beirut "due to the general security situation”.
The UNHCR was heavily criticized during the Kosovo conflict for not being able to handle the extent of the humanitarian crisis, and tried to correct its 'mistakes' during the Iraq war. With thousands of Lebanese refugees to be cared for, here’s hope that the UNHCR has learnt its lessons – but it can only truly be efficient if they are given acceptable work-conditions, which would entail safer access to war zones, the enforcement of 'peace corridors' and policies focused on effective and lasting periods of cease-fires.
Elsewhere: Blogging UNHCR Canada and the Lebanon Crisis + Globe and Mail's Witness : mideast Blog.
