Refugees

UAE distributes aid to Syrian refugees in Lebanon

By Nohad Topalian in Beirut

Humanitarian aid provided by the UAE is distributed to Syrian refugees in Lebanon. [Photo courtesy of UAE Embassy in Lebanon]

Humanitarian aid provided by the UAE is distributed to Syrian refugees in Lebanon. [Photo courtesy of UAE Embassy in Lebanon]

The UAE embassy in Lebanon recently distributed close to 1,300 food parcels to Syrian refugees and low-income Lebanese in the northern border town of Arsal, along with winter clothes, shoes and heaters.

The aid, distributed in late January, comes as part of the UAE Response Campaign for Displaced Syrians - Winter 2018, and is part of the Gulf state's international humanitarian response programme.

The three-day campaign took part across Lebanon, but focused on the border regions, where the majority of refugees have found temporary shelter.

It was conducted in co-operation with the Ministry of State for Displaced Affairs and the Lebanese Red Cross, the High Relief Commission and the Relief and Humanitarian Organisation of Dar al-Fatwa, the embassy said.

Relief workers distribute winter aid provided by the UAE to Syrian refugees and disadvantaged Lebanese communities. [Photo courtesy of UAE Embassy in Lebanon]

Relief workers distribute winter aid provided by the UAE to Syrian refugees and disadvantaged Lebanese communities. [Photo courtesy of UAE Embassy in Lebanon]

"The campaign was launched on January 26th in Beirut followed by Arsal and villages of the Arqoub and Hasbaya regions," UAE ambassador to Lebanon Hamad Saeed Sultan al-Shamsi told Al-Mashareq.

Aid also was distributed in Sidon and Tyre, the Kharroub region and Akkar, taking into account the situation in each area and the number of Syrian refugees they host, he added.

Emirati organisations contributing to the campaign included the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation, Al-Rahma Charity Association, Sharjah Charity International, among others.

In order to provide aid to those who need it the most, the embassy surveys the situation on the ground with input from international organisations, government ministries and civil society organisations, al-Shamsi said.

The goal of this campaign and of UAE-sponsored development projects in various parts of Lebanon is to help the Lebanese government shoulder the burden of the Syrian refugee crisis, he said, and to "stand by our Syrian brothers".

Text messages to receive aid

A large number of Syrian refugee families received text messages "inviting them to come to the Dar al-Fatwa headquarters in Ras al-Sirj to receive the aid", said Khaled Raad, director of the Arsal-based Syrian education office in Lebanon.

Basic food items were distributed to about 4,000 families, he told Al-Mashareq.

"This year's campaign coincides with an increase in the needs of the refugees, due to the decline in World Food Programme aid to the point that the provision of monthly food allowance has been suspended for a large number of refugees," said Minister of State for Refugee Affairs Mouin al-Merehbi.

The aid provided by the UAE campaign "meets a large portion of the needs of the refugees and host communities", he told Al-Mashareq.

But while this assistance helps, it "is not a solution, given the abject poverty the refugees are suffering from that has left them facing hunger", he said.

A large number of refugees live in areas that are disadvantaged to begin with, and whose host communities are poor, he noted.

This is particularly the case in the Wadi Khalid villages of Akkar and in Arsal, where the number of refugees exceeds the populations of the towns, and in other areas of the Bekaa Valley, he said.

"The needs are great, and what is being provided covers a portion of them until the contributions by donor countries become available," al-Merehbi said.

"The [UAE] aid came at just the right time," said Akifa Mahmoud Qassem, a Syrian refugee who lives in Arsal.

"Our financial situation is below zero, and the items I received will help me protect my five children from hunger and frost," she said.

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25 Comment(s)

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I’m Lebanese and I need help. Please, please, help me! My situation is very tough. You know what the condition in Lebanon is. May God bless you and reward you well! Please help me!

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Peace be upon you, brothers! I’m a mother of four. My husband is dead. Could anyone help me? I swear by God, I don’t have milk for my children. You can reach me at this number:

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These are all lies. Look at the picture; it has about 10 people who were distributed to stand before the camera. As to the rest, [gibberish]. May God bring us back to our country; it's better than this humiliation!

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We haven't seen anything.

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We are 10, including my children, mother and wife. Thank God. May God give us patience and calm the situation. 79107442.

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I'm a refugee. Nobody is helping us. We can't pay the rent.

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I need financial and food assistance. I have six children, a wife and a sister. The situation is very tough. There are many diseases, and many medical operations for the children.

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I seek assistance.

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I'm a Syrian refugee in Akar, north of Tripoli. I haven't received any assistance. Please call us at this number. We're a big family, our expenses are big, and I can't afford that.

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I swear by God I haven't received anything, neither clothes, wood, tents, heating, nor assistance, other than the UN red card. We have a camp of about 30 tents, but nobody knows anything about us. I live in Ain al-Shaab, Arsal.

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I haven't received anything, neither food nor winter assistance, ever since I received the file. I live in Miniyeh, Tripoli. Hope you will respond.

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I'm Syrian, but I'm not receiving anything.

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Ok, good! However, Syrians have become even richer than the Lebanese. We need assistance now more than Syrians because they left no work for us.

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We're in urgent need of food and financial assistance.

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I'm a Syrian in Lebanon's Tyre. I have four children, but I don't work because my left leg is amputated from above the knee. My situation is very tough.

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I'm a refugee in Lebanon. Many families and I have seen no assistance, and haven't heard anything about assistance. I live in Mount Lebanon, and our situation is very tough.

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God suffices us and He is the best disposer of affairs!

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Done!

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We live in Akar Halba. There is poverty, and we haven't received any assistance for more than one year.

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I'm a Syrian refugee in Lebanon, and I haven't received anything.

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O, God, relieve us and all those who are in calamity and need!

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Peace be upon you! We're a family of seven, myself, my wife and five children. Our situation is very tough. Today, it's very difficult to find work, and if I do, it will just suffice for the day and can't cover the rent, food, water or medicines. The situation is very tough. I just want to pay the rent, and pay for food and water. Please help me in any way possible. Thanks a lot. I live in Beirut, the beginning of al-Waziey.

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I live in Sidon, and I haven't received any of the assistance you've been talking about.

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You're liars and hypocrites! Syrians haven't received any assistance. I live next to Dar al-Fatwa and I haven't seen what you claim to be assistance. This is just a movie that was recorded.

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I need assistance. I have children, and I'm jobless. Please respond.

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