LEBANON / SYRIAN REFUGEES

Syrian refugees in Lebanon remain highly vulnerable after many years living in the country, according to a benchmark study from UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and UN partner agencies. UNIFEED / RECENT

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:01:00
• Production Date: 6 January 2017
• Asset Language: English
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES - UNHCR
• Subject Topical: REFUGEE CAMPS; REFUGEES
• Geographic Subject: LEBANON; SYRIA
• MAMS Id: 1809993
• Parent Id: 1809993
• Alternate Title: unifeed170106b

Description

STORY: LEBANON / SYRIAN REFUGEES
TRT: 01:00
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: NATS

DATELINE: RECENT

Shotlist

16 – 17 DECEMBER, 2016, BEKAA VALLEY, LEBANON

1. Med shot, young boy walking in the rain wearing a hoody
2. Wide shot, water dripping from tent onto barrel
3. Close up, water drops falling into barrel
4. Wide shot, man walking between tents
5. Med shot, man and son entering his tent
6. Various shots, woman draining water from her sewage
7. Wide shot, two young boy crossing water ponds on the muddy street
8. Wide shot, woman and children walking over mud in a tented settlement
9. Wide shot, tented settlement in Bekaa Valley

Storyline

Syrian refugees in Lebanon remain highly vulnerable after many years living in the country, according to a benchmark study from UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and UN partner agencies.

Household surveys conducted by UNHCR, UNICEF and WFP revealed that the economic plight of Syrian refugees in Lebanon is, at best, as serious as last year. Under some criteria, their plight continues to deteriorate.

The annual study found families had exhausted their limited resources, and were adapting to survive on the bare minimum, deploying harmful or asset-depleting coping mechanisms to survive. It showed over one third of refugees were moderately to severely food insecure, an increase of 12 percentage points compared to 2015. The share of households living below the poverty line remained at an alarming 71 percent.

The survey, known as the Vulnerability Assessment of Syrian Refugees (VASyR), was the fourth of its kind. The findings are used in a variety of ways, including helping determine recipients of funding and other support.

The study found that more than half of refugee households had a total per capita expenditure below the Survival Minimum Expenditure Basket (SMEB), a measure of items deemed essential for a household’s survival. While this figure stabilized at a national level, the share of households in the SMEB category increased more than 50 percent in certain districts. Further serious challenges were identified in the areas of residency, education and housing.

Lebanon is the second largest host of Syrian refugees after Turkey, with over a million registered in the small country. Syrian refugees in Lebanon are scattered in urban and rural environments, including approximately 2,125 communities and locations.