Lebanon Crisis

Lebanon Crisis

A humanitarian crisis erupted in Lebanon in mid-July when nearly a million Lebanese fled to escape conflict in the Middle East country. A ceasefire has now allowed many of them to return, but their needs continue as they rebuild their shattered cities, towns and villages.

UNHCR immediately swung into action after Lebanese started fleeing their homes to escape Israeli air strikes. The UN refugee agency sent an emergency team to reinforce staff already on the ground in Lebanon and Syria as it geared up for a multi-million-dollar operation to assist those displaced by the conflict. By the end of the month-long war, more than 700,000 Lebanese were displaced inside their country and some 180,000 were sheltered in Syria.

In the first stage of its phased operation, UNHCR focused on providing humanitarian assistance and protection to the most vulnerable Lebanese displaced in Lebanon and Syria.

UNHCR had emergency supplies stockpiled in Jordan and Syria, including plastic sheeting, tents and blankets. It began distributing aid to Lebanese flooding into Syria while waiting for safe road access to Lebanon. On July 29, the refugee agency's first relief convoy – carrying 140 tonnes of emergency relief items such as mattresses and blankets for the displaced – arrived in Beirut from Syria.

Supplies were distributed to people sheltering in schools in mountain areas outside Beirut and public buildings in the capital. Relief items were moved in convoy to the Syrian capital Damascus from Jordan. A logistics base was also set up in Larnaca, Cyprus to deliver supplies by sea. An airlift, using chartered flights from the Royal Jordanian Air Force, was added.

At the time of the August 14 ceasefire, with the needs of returnees just starting, UNHCR supplies were arriving in large quantities. Road routes have reopened, an airlift of supplies has been organised and large amounts of equipment – including trucks that can traverse the damaged roads in Lebanon – are arriving by sea.

By the middle of August, UNHCR had in the pipeline enough supplies for 150,000 Lebanese returnees, including that number of mattresses, blankets, cooking stoves, kitchen sets, plastic sheets, water cans, kerosene cans, lanterns and tents. UNHCR's relief response is part of the joint effort by UN agencies and is closely coordinated with the Lebanese government's Higher Relief Committee as well as international partners.

At the outset, UNHCR had monitored the borders for outflows of displaced people. UNHCR – in coordination with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent – helped with mattresses and blankets for Lebanese accommodated in community shelters, public buildings and institutions in Syria.

With the ceasefire, UNHCR teams turned to monitoring the rush of Lebanese back home. In the first two days, some 46,000 returned just from Syria. UNHCR teams at the borders and at key points along routes home in Lebanon distributed water and emergency supplies to returnees.

On July 24 a US$18.9 million appeal for the first three months of UNHCR's Lebanon operation had been launched in a joint UN appeal. Within the joint UN approach, the refugee agency has assumed the lead role in protection, emergency shelter and site management.

The exact shape of assistance in coming months depends on the damage in the ordnance-littered landscape. But UNHCR is initially focused on emergency shelter for the most vulnerable living outside the major cities. In addition, UNHCR expects to help rehabilitate public buildings that can serve as temporary shelter for the homeless while they rebuild.