 |
| A Syrian boy at a refugee transit site in Arsal, Lebanon (UNHCR/M. Hofer) |
UNHCR
had earlier called upon states to offer resettlement or other forms of
admission to 30,000 of the most vulnerable Syrian refugees by the end of 2014.
To date, 20 countries have offered more than 18,800 places towards this goal.
There
are currently more than 2.4 million refugees registered in the region. In
Lebanon there are some 932,000, Jordan has 574,000, Turkey some 613,000, Iraq
223,000 and Egypt has about 134,000 refugees.
"UNHCR remains confident that the 30,000 goal will be met
by the end of the year through a significant number of submissions to the
United States," spokesman Dan McNorton told journalists in Geneva.
As part of the emergency response, UNHCR is urging states to
consider a number of solutions that can provide secure, urgent and effective
protection for these people. Such solutions could include resettlement,
humanitarian admission or individual sponsorship; programs that enable Syrian relatives
to join family members; scholarships for Syrian students in order to prevent a
"lost generation" of young people; and medical evacuation for
refugees with life-threatening health conditions.
Arsal, Lebanon
More than 10,000 Syrians have fled over the mountains into
Lebanon since a fresh offensive on the city of
Yabroud – in Reef Dimashq governorate about
80 km north of Damascus -- and its outskirts began in
mid February. The new arrivals represent a second wave of refugees to escape
fighting in the same region of Syria, following an earlier influx in November 2013.
 |
| Syrian refugee tents in Arsal (The Daily Star/Hassan Shaaban) |
The new refugees are arriving in a town that has already taken
in huge numbers in recent months. The population of Arsal, normally 35,000, has
now surpassed 83,000 – with far more Syrians now than Lebanese.
Community centers, mosques and other "collective
shelters" have long since run out of space. Across the town, a patchwork
of blue and white tents and impromptu shelters is filling up any open space.
Some new arrivals are living in vans and the backs of trucks. With this new
influx, the number of informal tented settlements in the town has climbed from
six to more than 30, writes
UNHCR’s Andrew Purvis from Arsal.
The latest exodus from Syria began in earnest when bombing
intensified on February12.
To avoid shelling, many of those fleeing Yabroud are finding
alternative routes over the mountains along rugged mountain tracks still
blanketed with snow.
For many of the refugees, the escape to Lebanon follows several
years of displacement and deprivation within Syria.
