REPORT: Lebanese authorities set up plan to help Syrian refugees

Since the month of May 2011, and with the start of the displacement movement of the Syrians into Lebanon, the Lebanese government has not spent more than 8 billion LBP on the case. However, when the number of refugees reached almost 200 thousand refugees, the Lebanese government presented to the Arab league a well-studied plan, calling for a help of 180 million USD in order to be able to meet the needs of the Syrian refugees.         

The cabinet revealed that 51% of the refugees live in North Lebanon, while 39% of them live in Bekaa and the others are distributed between the South, Mount Lebanon and Beirut; however, the government did not tackle the issue of building camps for these displaced people, when the shelters does not contain more than 2% of the Syrians, leading 60% of them to rent apartments while 27% live at relatives’ places.          

On the other hand, in case the cabinet received the support it called for, the Health Ministry will get 40%, the Higher Relief Commission 32% and the Social Affairs and the Education Ministries will receive 50 million USD.           

The relief missions included in the cabinet’s plan are as follows:               

The Social Affairs Ministry will take care of finding shelters for the refugees and ensure necessary health care and treatments; while the Health Ministry will take care of the injured and ensure medical care for the ill people. The Education Ministry will provide them with the educational support through registering the children in public schools. As for the High Relief Commission will supply the Syrian displaced with food and other supplies.