Lebanon: helping Syrian refugees in the Bekaa Valley

21-08-2012 Photo gallery

By August 2012 more than 30,000 Syrians had crossed into Lebanon fleeing the violence in their homeland. Like many others affected by the fighting, they continue to depend on humanitarian assistance. The ICRC has provided essential help to some 10,000 refugees in the Bekaa valley, close to the Syrian border. This has included food, mattresses, blankets, hygiene items, kitchen sets and other household necessities. The organization has also been helping the Lebanese Red Cross to ensure the evacuation of wounded Syrians at the border, since the beginning of the unrest in Syria in March 2011.

- Many of the refugees are living with relatives or friends, but others are staying in tents near villages in the Bekaa Valley, close to the Syrian border. Like many other people affected by the fighting, they continue to depend on humanitarian assistance.
  © ICRC / N. Ismail / lb-e-01259
- Syrian refugee Mona fled Kusair, in the province of Homs, with her husband and seven children after heavy shelling hit her neighbourhood in March 2012. They had no time to take anything from their home. Now the family stay in a small room, where they sleep and cook, and share a toilet with other families. She never imagined having to stay so long in Lebanon and wants to go home as soon as possible.
  © ICRC / N. Ismail / lb-e-01257
- Shahed (2) was shot in the arm during heavy clashes at her home village of Ksair, in Homs province, earlier in 2012. The bullet went through her spine and she has been unable to walk again, despite emergency first aid in Syria and rehabilitation at a hospital in Lebanon. Her mother was killed in the violence and now she is looked after by her aunt Rabiia.
  © ICRC / N. Ismail / lb-e-01263
- The plight of refugee Amnè and her family starkly illustrates the human tragedy unfurling in Syria. She is taking care of her two grandchildren because their mother, aged only 20, is receiving treatment for cancer at a local hospital. The father is in Syria, but they don’t know what has happened to him. Amnè fled her home in Homs province in early 2012 and now lives with three other families in a two-room apartment, where they share a bathroom with four more families living in the same compound. There is a constant shortage of water and electricity.
  © ICRC / N. Ismail / lb-e-01258
- For some families, the only shelter they could find after fleeing Syria months ago was inside a mosque being built in Rass Sarj, in Aarsal village.
  © ICRC / N. Ismail / lb-e-01265
- The courtyard of the mosque building site in Aarsal has become a tented home to many of the refugees who are unable to find other shelter in the village.
  © ICRC / N. Ismail / lb-e-01262
- This man's leg was wounded by shrapnel and he now has to walk with a cane, in great pain. He has found shelter inside the mosque compound, along with other families.
  © ICRC / N. Ismail / lb-e-01261
- Humanitarian aid is vital for most of the Syrian families who have sought refuge in the Bekaa valley. Since January 2012, the ICRC has distributed essential assistance, including food rations, mattresses, blankets, hygiene items, kitchen sets and other household necessities.
  © ICRC / N. Ismail / lb-e-01260

Related sections

Lebanon: what the ICRC is doing to help Syrian wounded and refugees

30.07.2012

Lebanon: helping Syrian refugees in the Bekaa Valley

21-08-2012 Photo gallery

Related sections

Guidelines for use