Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, (UNHCR), mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to a third country, on Thursday reported that a fifth of Lebanon’s population has been displaced. And 430,000 people have crossed into Syria out of the country’s estimated 5,297,000 residents — 30% Lebanese, and 70 % Syrians who fled the 2011 civil war and are now fleeing from their temporary shelter back to Syria.
It should be noted, as I explained in the previous paragraph, that there’s a big difference between UNHCR and UNRWA, since the former is engaged in finding new places for displaced people, while the former was established to maintain the permanent refugee status of the Arabs of Eret Israel, possibly until, God forbid, the Jewish State is defeated and hordes of “Palestinians” can invade and take over.
“We must not forget that most Syrians — after years of war, divisions, sanctions — already faced extraordinary hardship prior to this crisis,” Grandi said, adding, “New arrivals — Lebanese and Syrians alike — are mostly hosted by families that are poor and vulnerable. In Syria, the emergency is both at the border and in people’s homes. There is an urgent need to increase humanitarian assistance, but the inter-agency appeal which I helped launch in Damascus on October 7 is only 12% funded.”
“We must move on two tracks,” he explained. “First, we continue to work with the Government of Syria — which has kept borders open to all — to also ensure the safety and security of all those arriving.
“UNHCR is now allowed to monitor returnees at border crossings and wherever they decide to be accommodated. But our capacity is still limited, especially in places of destination. We have access to 114 community centers across the country.
“We must build up this capacity and that of our partners — indispensable to support, advise and help ensure that those Syrian returnees eligible to benefit from existing amnesties can do so without hindrance, in a transparent and equitable manner, avoiding retaliations, as I discussed recently with the Syrian authorities.
“Second, please use the so-called early recovery space made available by various Security Council Resolutions. Support people who have decided to return, and who may wish to stay, and support the activities which UN and other organizations carry out in areas of return. There is no dignity in returns to places without water, electricity, services, housing. And if those returns won’t be sustainable — people will move again.”
“We are at a crossroads,” he stated. “A further expansion of the conflict carries unimaginable dangers. It will also broaden the humanitarian impact, far beyond the capacity of aid agencies to respond. And it will open the door for population movements difficult to manage.
“Yet, we have some opportunities left to address these challenges before it’s too late — and even to resolve some of the long-standing problems affecting the region, including forced displacement. But we must act, and act now.”
