70 percent of Syrian refugees in Lebanon live below poverty line: UN survey

An annual survey released by the United Nations on Monday shows about 70 percent of Syrian refugees in Lebanon still live in grinding poverty.

"70.5 percent of Syrian refugees in Lebanon continue to live below the poverty line," the survey said, adding that the exact number has increased compared with 2015.

According to the survey, these refugees remain "highly vulnerable to external shocks and reliant on humanitarian assistance to survive."

The survey, known as Vulnerability Assessment of Syrian Refugees, is conducted annually in Lebanon by the World Food Program, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

"The economic plight of Syrian refugees did not deteriorate as severely as last year, but we know that this is due to the oxygen of external help. The situation would be even direr without the aid received to date," said Mireille Girard, UNHCR's Representative in Lebanon.

Under the Lebanon Crisis Response Plan, 726 million U.S. dollars have been injected into the country in 2016 to help prevent more refugees from falling below the poverty line, according to the survey.

In addition, the study also found 34 percent of refugee families in Lebanon moderately food insecure, up from 23 percent in 2015.

"There is an 11 percent increase in the number of households that reduced their food expenditure and a 7 percent increase in those purchasing food on credit," it said.

"The findings are a reminder to all of us that a significant share of Syrian households in Lebanon are doing all they can with limited means to keep their children healthy and safe," said UNICEF's Lebanon Representative Tanya Chapuisat.

"For those who have lived through the violence in Syria and endure hardship in the host country, health care, food, emotional support and education are simply vital," she said. Endit