Commissioner Stylianides reaffirms EU's humanitarian support for Lebanon

During his visit yesterday to Lebanon, EU i Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides i reaffirmed the EU's commitment to providing help for the refugees living in the country and for their hosting communities.

"The EU is committed to supporting refugees in Lebanon as well as their Lebanese host communities. This year we are providing €87 million in EU humanitarian aid for refugees in the country, which reaches around 665 000 people in need via our partner organisations. Once again I commend the efforts of Lebanon and its people for hosting over one million Syrian refugees" said Commissioner Stylianides.

Commissioner Stylianides visited a number of EU-funded humanitarian projects which are providing support to refugees in the areas of informal education, health care, water and sanitation, as well as shelter to improve the living conditions of families. He also held meetings with Prime Minister Tammam Salam and Minister of Social Affairs Rashid Derbas.

Since 2012, the European Commission has released over €356 million in humanitarian funding in Lebanon.

This funding has mostly contributed to cash assistance allowing the most vulnerable people to meet their basic needs, health care and shelter. Assistance was also provided in the form of counselling, legal assistance and support to survivors of violence.

Background

Lebanon - a country of 4.4 million inhabitants - is hosting around 1.1 million Syrian refugees (including those who are not officially registered), 42 000 Palestinian refugees from Syria, 6 000 Iraqi refugees and nearly 450 000 refugees from Palestine. This makes it the highest per-capita concentration of refugees worldwide - where one person out of four is a refugee.

Since the outbreak of the Syrian crisis in 2011, hundreds of thousands of refugees have crossed into Lebanon seeking safety and shelter, more than 75% of which are children and women. This influx has added strain on the country’s economy and infrastructure. The pressure is felt in all sectors including education, health, housing, water and electricity supply. As time goes by, competition for jobs and resources is also fuelling tensions in certain areas between Lebanese host communities and Syrian refugees.

There are no formal refugee camps because of the 'no camp' policy, adopted by the Government of Lebanon. Syrian refugees are scattered in more than 1 700 localities across the country where they live in apartments, collective shelters, tented settlements, unfinished houses, garages, warehouses or worksites. Refugees in Lebanon have to pay all goods and services (food, rent, clothes, medicine).