There is an urgent need for more assistance for Palestinian refugees coming from Syria and those residing in Lebanon, U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly said Thursday during a visit to the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh.
“UNRWA has been helping within available resources. The needs of Palestinian refugees displaced from Syria were covered in the appeals discussed in the international donors’ conference in Kuwait yesterday. There is clearly an urgent need for more assistance,” Plumbly said during his visit.
He added that addition to some 53,000 registered Palestine refugees that live in the camp in south Lebanon, approximately 4,000 refugees from Syria have also fled to the camp.
Plumbly met with Director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency Ann Dismor, as well as Palestinian refugees residing there.
“I have seen the difficult conditions in Ain al-Hilweh. The plight of refugees arriving from Syria is truly distressing,” Plumbly said.
The special coordinator also met with leaders of the different factions in the camp represented in the security and popular committees at Ain al-Hilweh along with representatives of Palestinian women’s organizations and of a Palestinian youth group
“He was encouraged by their efforts to maintain law and order in the camp and to create a sense of unity,” his press office said.
Lebanon has appealed for $370 million to cope with the rising number of Syrian refugees and Palestinians who fled violence there as well.
