The Syrian refugee crisis is fast becoming untenable, says Christian international children’s charity Global Care as the world marked World Refugee Day on June 20.
The scale of the Syrian refugee crisis has reached unthinkable proportions, compared to when the first refugees were worked with in Lebanon in April 2013. Now, a massive one in five people in Lebanon is a Syrian refugee, and this enormous influx of needy people is causing huge problems.
‘Can you imagine the problems which would arise if, within the space of 12 months, a fifth of the population of the UK was suddenly comprised of refugees from a neighbouring country?’, said CEO John White. ‘There would be enormous tension. It’s no different in Lebanon. The scale of the refugee crisis is reaching unprecedented levels, and the humanitarian aid budget has not kept pace.’ According to the UNHCR, only 14% of the aid needed to care for the refugees has been provided.
Effect on Lebanon
The UNHCR also says that the refugee crisis means the population in Lebanon is now close to being the size it was expected to be in 2050. Shelter is increasingly hard to find. Services of every kind are overwhelmed.
Global Care is focussing its efforts on helping refugee children access education. Over 500,000 refugee children are living in shelters and tents in Lebanon, and 60% are not in school. Many have missed three or four years of schooling already. ‘The children have already lost their homes and everything which was familiar to them, it’s so important they don’t lose out on their future life chances as well. We are determined to get as many children as possible back into the classroom, and are working with all the resources we can muster to help make this happen.’
Food parcels
Global Care has raised almost £90,000 in relief aid since April 2013. Most of this has been spent providing monthly food parcels to refugee families. Since April 2014, the focus has been on sending as many children as possible to the informal school they are supporting, through their Lebanese partners, Christian agency Heart for Lebanon, in the border village of Ain Kfar Zbad. It costs £500 per child to pay for a full year’s education, with qualified teachers, including transport to and from school, all school equipment and resources and a healthy lunch at school each day.
