LOC20:56
17:56 GMT
GENEVA, June 4 (KUNA) -- UN Works and Relief Agency for Palestinian
Refugees (UNRWA) launched Monday a Flash Appeal for USD 12.7 million to
address urgent needs of thousands of Palestinian refugees displaced by the
fighting in and around Nahr Al Bared camp in North Lebanon.
According to a UNRWA statement, more than 27,000 Palestinian refugees have
so far fled their homes in Nahr Al Bared, most taking refuge in the nearby
Beddawi camp.
The money, said the statement, will be spent on delivering assistance to
the displaced over the coming 90 days.
It includes plans for food assistance, non food items and shelter, both
immediately in order to relieve the congestion of Beddawi camp and in the
short term to ensure suitable temporary shelters and provide minimum and
dignified living standards to those in distress.
UNRWA figures indicate that the population of Beddawi camp has swollen from
16,000 persons to around 37,000, jeopardizing the lives of inhabitants and
stretching the already over-crowded living conditions.
The Commissioner General of UNRWA, Karen AbuZayd, said that the situation
in the camps was already extremely difficult and now it has deteriorated even
further.
"This fighting has placed refugees on the front line and I am very
concerned about the precarious situation in which they find themselves. Life
in Beddawi Camp has become unbearable and I appeal to donors to help us take
immediate action," she stressed. (end)
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