Rula Amin, the UN refugee agency’s senior communications officer for the Middle East and North Africa, said there were two major attacks and a large gap between the border between Syria and Lebanon. Now it has become difficult for any vehicle to pass through it.
Citing information from Amman, the Jordanian capital, he said ordinary people at the Masna checkpoint were so desperate to escape Lebanon that they made their way through the destroyed streets by walking.
According to the International Organization for Migration, millions of people entered Syria via this route in the last 10 days, and from September 21 to October 3, 235,000 people reached Syria by road, including 82,000 Lebanese and about 1.5 million Syrians. million
At the same time, 50,000 Lebanese and 10,000 Syrians flew to other countries from Beirut Airport, and 1,000 took the sea route.
About 1 million people are expected to be displaced in Lebanon after October 7, 2023. Lebanon and Israel have been at loggerheads since the start of the Gaza war and shelling has intensified along the ‘Blue Line’, the line that separates the two.
Figures from the United Nations Migration Agency show that more than 400,000 people have been displaced in the past two weeks amid Israeli military operations in Lebanon.
The plight of migrant workers
According to the UN agency, 165,000 of these people are living in collective shelters such as schools across the country. The number of displaced people is expected to increase due to heavy bombing in Beirut, Bekaa Valley and other areas.
There are more than 180,000 migrant workers in Lebanon, many of them female domestic workers, and they face tough challenges. Being massively displaced, they are left to fend for themselves.
It has been reported that employers in Lebanon are abandoning migrant domestic workers, either on the streets or in homes whose families have moved elsewhere to save their lives.
These domestic workers come from Ethiopia, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Bangladesh and the Philippines and are affected by the ongoing violence in the country.
Lebanon’s health ministry says 37 people have been killed and 151 injured in Israeli ground military operations and airstrikes in southern Beirut in the past 24 hours.
Huge health needs
Efforts are being made by UN humanitarian workers and partner organizations to strengthen health services in Lebanon and a substantial amount of medical supplies have been sent to Beirut via a humanitarian flight.
However, if the situation worsens, it is feared that major challenges may be created in relief operations.
UN Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus welcomed the plane’s landing in Beirut and said supplies would be delivered in the coming days to respond to trauma, mental health and cholera.
The pain of returning to Syria
At the same time, those returning to Syria in search of safety may face other challenges, from damaged homes to limited access to basic services.
Rula Amin of the UN refugee agency said refugees in Lebanon face a difficult choice: stay in Lebanon, at increased risk, or cross the border into Syria, where there may be more risk.
Since October 2023, UNHCR has distributed more than 223,000 essential items to those in need and provided cash assistance to 70,000 people.