How Lebanon’s Refugee Crisis Is Continuing to Get Worse

The Syrian civil war has been an ongoing conflict dating back to 2011, resulting in millions of Syrian refugees seeking safety in neighboring countries. This has created a refugee crisis in Lebanon, as the country hosts nearly 1.5 million Syrian refugees. However, Lebanon is also facing its own issues, making the situation even more difficult as it supports Syrian refugees and its own citizens. In this article, we’ll look at how Lebanon’s refugee crisis is continuing to get worse.

How the Syrian Refugee Crisis in Lebanon Is Leading to Lebanese Refugees

While Syrians are fleeing to Lebanon to escape war, destruction, and death in their own country, Lebanese citizens are also dealing with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, a financial and economic collapse, and the deadly blast at the port of Beirut in 2020. All of these factors combined have led to increased prices on food and other essentials, as well as a climbing poverty rate. This has made life difficult not only for vulnerable Syrian refugees but also for citizens of Lebanon.

Since Lebanon is facing so many of its own challenges, the added strain on the economy of supporting refugees has been nearly impossible. The country doesn’t have the necessary financial resources to fix its crumbling infrastructure, its healthcare system, and more. This has left no clear plan for how to solve the crisis, and even caused the Lebanese government to exclude vulnerable refugee communities from receiving aid, like COVID-19 vaccines. In fact, the COVID-19 mortality rate for Syrian refugees is over 4 times the national average in Lebanon.

Because of the crisis in Lebanon, both Lebanese and Syrian refugees are leaving to seek safety and security in other countries—like Cyprus. This might sound like a promising resolution, but the key to fixing the situation lies in providing aid directly to Lebanon and relocating some of the Syrian refugees to other countries whose economies can support them. This way, both Syrian refugees and Lebanese citizens can get the resources they need, and there are no more individuals displaced from their home countries.

In response to the current refugee crisis in Lebanon, the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF) has created the Syrian Children’s Relief Project to ensure that these kids get the basic medical care or other aid needed to live better lives. We also provide humanitarian aid to children and their families through our hospitals, pediatric medical programs, health initiatives, hospital infrastructure projects, and medical missions. These efforts help to ensure that children in need get the vital assistance they require.

PCRF is not a political or religious organization. Our mission is to provide medical and humanitarian relief collectively and individually to Arab children throughout the Middle East, regardless of their nationality, politics, or religion. We rely on charitable giving to provide medical treatment, surgeries, safety, shelter, and support to children and their families suffering from the refugee crisis in Lebanon. Find out how you can get involved and help make a difference in children’s lives today!