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UNHCR distributes winter aid to Syrian refugees in Lebanon

Xinhua, December 31, 2015 Adjust font size:

The United Nations Higher Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) announced Thursday that it started distributing the winter aid for Syrian refugees in Lebanon to protect the most vulnerable families there.

It will provide 141,146 Syrian families with winter coupons, the agency said in a statement, adding that some 3,210 Syrian families are due to receive coupons in the coming two weeks.

The UNHCR also said it has distributed more than 18,000 blankets and 238 stoves to the most poor refugee families.

As for helping the hosting local communities, the agency pointed out that 13,850 Lebanese families will receive winter aid through the program under the supervision of the Lebanese Ministry of Social Affairs.

According to the UNHCR, Lebanon hosts more than 1.1 million Syrian refugees who fled their war-torn country since the beginning of the uprising against the regime of President Bashar Assad in March 2011.

About 70 percent of refugees in Lebanon are now living below extreme poverty line (3.84 U.S. dollars per day), according to a report released last week by the UNHCR .

It also said that out of the more than 1.1 million Syrian refugees registered with UNHCR by June 2015, more than 760,000 were estimated to be mildly food insecure, more than 270,000 moderately and nearly 6,000 severely.

The UNHCR launched last November a regional winter campaign to protect the most vulnerable refugee families in Lebanon and other neighboring countries from possible winter storms. Endit