€3M needed for Syrians refugees in Lebanon: Aid group

ANKARA

An international humanitarian aid group fighting the causes and effects of hunger said Thursday that €3 million ($3.31 million) is needed for Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

Action Against Hunger Spain continues to support affected refugees by distributing shelter kits in response to the demolition of the Arsal camp in eastern Lebanon, the group said on Twitter.

The Lebanese government ordered the demolition of any concrete walls more than one meter high before July 1, causing many refugees in Arsal to move into tents.

That has left many refugees nowhere to relocate and increased their risk of return to war-wracked Syria, the group said.

"Debris left from the demolished settlements hinders the mobility of refugees and the Syrian population's access to humanitarian aid," said Action Against Hunger Spain.

The group stressed that the risk of an epidemic is also high in Arsal.

"There are no refugee camps but informal settlements in Lebanon because the country did not sign the Refugee Convention," it said, highlighting that Lebanon hosts one of the largest number of Syrians with 1.5 million. Turkey has the most, at some 3.6 million.

"That is why our response can only be based on temporary solutions," it added.

"We work since 2016 in Lebanon with water, sanitation and hygiene projects and livelihoods, mainly," the humanitarian group said. "Our priority is to serve the most vulnerable groups."

Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in early 2011 when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on protesters with unexpected ferocity.

Hundreds of thousands of people have lost their lives, and more than 5.5 million civilians took refuge in other countries.