Some 700,000 Syrians, who fled their country to Lebanon in search of a safe haven, now face hunger after the UN World Food Programme (WFP) announced it was suspending aid to 1.7 million Syrian refugees in host countries due to a lack of funds.
Lebanese Social Affairs Minister, Rashid Derbas, said in a statement on Saturday, "There are 700,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon, and when we laid hand on the Syrian refugees' file, we informed the government that there is a continuing decline in the aid being provided for the refugees." Derbas continued, "We have always warned in conferences and meetings with the donor countries about this crisis, but what even then, exactly what we were afraid of, suspension of food voucher scheme for refugees in Lebanon, was announced." "There are hundreds of thousands of people who were dependent on these vouchers as a life line and who will suffer hunger but we will be unable to meet their demand. Thus, Lebanon and Syrian refugees will be left without assistance," the minister added.
The Lebanese government decided to urgently call upon the UN and the donor nations and agencies to warn about the repercussions of aid suspension, thus affecting the Syrian refugees in Lebanon.