Lebanon hosts over one million Syrian refugees; more than half of them live in garages, abandoned buildings, and makeshift tented settlements. Last winter hit early in November and continued until late March, with several villages experiencing waves of snowfall, strong winds and heavy rain making access difficult, especially in locations […]
Lebanon hosts over one million Syrian refugees; more than half of them live in garages, abandoned buildings, and makeshift tented settlements.
Last winter hit early in November and continued until late March, with several villages experiencing waves of snowfall, strong winds and heavy rain making access difficult, especially in locations above 1,600 metres.
At a time when the vulnerabilities of Syrian refugees in Lebanon have increased by 100 per cent in some areas, UNHCR and partners estimate that 195,000 Syrian families (975,000 people) will suffer from winter and will need assistance to keep warm and dry.
UNHCR has doubled the number of people receiving support for winter in Lebanon this year because of this increased vulnerability among the refugee population. We are giving four consecutive months of winter grants to more than 161,000 families (800,000 people) starting in November. This will allow refugees to stagger purchases such as fuel for heating.
This increased coverage is made possible thanks to the generous support of DFID and other donors.
Syrian refugee Andeh Al-Shakiti, 38, sits in her tent in Northern Lebanon with her four children (from left to right) Abd el Aziz (9), Chadi (2), Batoul (6), and Hada (7). Andeh used to live with three of her children in Homs in Syria while her husband was working in Lebanon. “I was spending most of my time at home taking care of my children”, she says. “But when the war broke out and the city was no longer safe, I could not bear it anymore. I was very worried and scared. I told my husband either we all die here or we go to Lebanon and that’s what we did”. Andeh has been in Lebanon for more than two years now.
Andeh’s youngest child Chadi was born here. During the day, Andeh stays in the informal settlement to take care of her two younger children while the older ones go to a nearby public school. “Tarek, my husband does not find work all the time”, she says. “He usually works for three or four days a month. A while ago, Tarek had an accident at work and he hurt his fingers. Now he relies on one hand because he cannot move his other fingers. This slows him down”. © UNHCR/Dalia Khamissy
Andeh pulls a curtain showing where she stores all the mattresses, covers, sheets and other belongings she has in her tent. During the night, Andeh takes out the blankets and mattresses and puts them on the floor where she sleeps with the rest of her family. “If it were not for the ATM card, I swear we would die of hunger and cold” said Andeh. “The cash we receive from the UN is essential for us to survive. It helps a lot especially that I have four children to care for. We use it to buy wood for heating and warm clothes for my children”. Andeh and her family are one of hundreds of thousands of vulnerable Syrian refugees receiving winter assistance from UNHCR thanks to the generous support of DFID and other donors. © UNHCR/Dalia Khamissy
Andeh’s daughter Batoul stands carrying her youngest brother Chadi on her shoulders inside their tent in North Lebanon. During UNHCR’s visit she was playing with her little brother Chadi who had a cold. “As soon as the weather changed and became a little colder, Chadi started getting sick”, said Andeh “That’s when I have to use part of the cash we receive to buy him medication so he gets better”. © UNHCR/Dalia Khamissy
Andeh (right) walks with her neighbour Jinane (left, 28 years old) and their children to meet other Syrian neighbours living in the same informal settlement. Eight Syrian refugee families are living in a small settlement amongst olive trees in a village in North Lebanon. They all came from Homs in Syria looking for safety for them and their children. None of the families is paying rent to the owner of the land in exchange of working few hours a day in collecting olives from the trees around. © UNHCR/Dalia Khamissy
Jinane enters the tent where she lives with her family in an informal settlement in North Lebanon, while her son Chaher (2) plays with a water bottle, and her niece looks on. Two years ago, Jinane left Homs in Syria with her husband Ghazi just a few months after they got married. Jinane was pregnant with Chaher when the couple fled their hometown, leaving everything behind to find a safer place in Lebanon. © UNHCR/Dalia Khamissy
Jihane carefully rolls a cheese sandwich for her son Chaher in their tent in an informal settlement in North Lebanon. For the second year, Jinane’s family is benefiting from the UNHCR’s winter support programme. “If it were not for the [ATM] card we would have stood in front of a mosque and begged for money”, she says. Jinane is using the cash she is receiving mostly to buy food, water, medication and winter clothes. In Syria, Jinane had a better life. “We never felt cold. Our house was equipped, but here our situation is bad”, she continues. “There is mud everywhere when it rains and my son is sick with flu and cold most of the time”. © UNHCR/Dalia Khamissy
“In winter, we spend more money than in summer”, she says. “The clothes we have now are light and not warm enough so we have to buy some more. We also need wood. My husband has started collecting bags of remaining pieces of wood from a carpenter nearby. If my son catches a cold, I need to buy him medication”.
The winter assistance provided by UNHCR will help Jinane and her family survive the cold season.
“My husband does not have a regular job”, she explained. “And I cannot leave my son alone to look for work. The card is everything we have”. © UNHCR/Dalia Khamissy
Jinane’s baby nephew is bundled up as he sleeps on the floor of Jinane’s tent. He is still able to do so comfortably during the day when the sun outside warms the tent, but not in the afternoon when temperatures start dropping. “It is November and the weather is cold now in the afternoon and during the night”, Jinane said. “As you see our tents need thicker carpets because the ones we have are too thin, not enough to keep us warm. My husband has recently repaired our tent to prevent it from getting flooded with water when it rains”. © UNHCR/Dalia Khamissy
On 13 November 2015, Syrian refugees wait in turn to receive ATM cards at the UNHCR reception centre in Tripoli, North Lebanon. As part of its ongoing preparations for winter 2015/2016, UNHCR started in October 2015 to distribute ATM cards to vulnerable Syrian refugee families. While waiting, the families receive a short presentation on the use of ATM card for winter cash assistance. Refugees are also able to approach a help desk and ask any questions they may have about their situation in Lebanon. © UNHCR/Dalia Khamissy
Less than a month after we visited Andeh and Jihane, cold and damp has descended on many parts of Lebanon. For hundreds of thousands of refugee families spending yet another winter away from the warmth of their homes, the support provided by UNHCR through the generous funding of DFID and other donors is a lifeline of survival. © UNHCR
UNHCR’s note: This story has been published in Arabic at:
http://www.unhcr.org/ar/news/latest/2016/11/581a2bd74.html.
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