BEIRUT
A United Nations agency warned Wednesday that more Palestinians living in crisis-torn Lebanon have fallen deeper into poverty, spelling a “dramatic humanitarian crisis”.
For three years Lebanon has been in the throes of one of the worst economic crises in recent history according to the World Bank — dealing an especially heavy blow to vulnerable communities including refugees.
Two thirds of Palestinian refugee families in Lebanon have cut down on the number of daily meals, Leni Stenseth, deputy commissioner general at the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA, told reporters in Beirut.
Days ago the UN body “urgently” appealed for $13 million in funding for cash assistance to families, primary health care services and to keep the agency’s schools open until the end of this year.
The poverty level among Palestinian refugees in Lebanon has shot up from a little more than 70 percent at the beginning of the year to 93 percent, according to UNRWA.”This means that almost everyone is without the ability to cater for the most basic needs in their lives,” Stenseth said.
“This is a dramatic humanitarian crisis.” Lebanon hosts about 210,000 Palestinian refugees, including 30,000 who fled Syria after war erupted there in 2011, according to the media.
