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LEBANON / SYRIA REFUGEES
STORY: LEBANON / SYRIA REFUGEES
TRT: 2.32
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ARABIC / ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 26, 27 MARCH 2012, TRIPOLI, LEBANON, MASHTA HAMMOUD, BEIRUT, LEBANON
1. Wide shot, busy Tripoli Street
2. Med shot, Syrian refugees gathered at UNHCR distribution centre receiving food and non-food items
3. Wide shot, refugees walking away with boxes of supplies
4. Various shots, refugees receiving boxes
5. Med shot, refugees being aided by UNHCR staff
6. Med shot, refugees being registered for receipt of supplies
7. Med shot, Lamia Syrian refugee who’s been in Lebanon for six months receiving supplies
8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Lamia, Syrian refugee:
“One without his country cannot last. Life is good here, and its citizens are good and welcoming. But one’s country is always more beautiful.’’
9. Wide shot, entrance Lebanese national Mohammed Ramadan’s house where two Syrian families have been sheltered since the start of the crisis
10. Med shot, Syrian refugee Hoda by kitchen sink, Mohammad Ramadan’s daughter in background
11. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Hoda, Syrian refugee:
“We’re getting by. We’re living here with them in their house. We’re receiving some supplies, and the family is also assisting us. We’re living. It’s always better than being under the bombs over there.”
12. Wide shot, Syrian refugees sitting with Mohammed Ramadan in living room
13. Close up, Mohammad Ramadan
14. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mohammed Ramadan, Lebanese national sheltering Syrian refugees:
“They’re like our children and our family. We eat together. Whatever happens we eat together. What are we to do? Do we leave them out on the streets? I have a son I wanted to marry; I had to put that on hold to have these families stay with us until the situation eases.”
15. Wide shot, MashtaHammoud public school yard
16. Med shot, classroom entrance
17. Wide shot, Syrian and Lebanese students in classroom
18. Med shot, teacher and students
19. Various shots, Chhab Mubarak, Syrian refugee who’s top of his class wiping blackboard
20. Various shots, classroom
21. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Chhab, Syrian refugee:
“At first, my classmates started reading in front of me and teaching me. Between classes, they used to take the books, and have me read in front of them until I learned.’’
22. Med shot, entrance to a centre for remedial classes and child friendly spaces funded by UNHCR
23. Various shots, Syrian and Lebanese kids in arts and crafts session
24. SOUNDBITE (English) Ninette Kelley, UNHCR’s representative in Lebanon:
“These kids are coming to an area that is socially and economically deprived, so many of the hardship they are facing are also faced by the host community who’s given them the welcome and the shelter. So what we’re trying to do is ensure that our efforts also benefit the most vulnerable Lebanese. So that would apply to things like food assistance to the family, when you have a family that’s sheltering a lot of Syrians, we give food assistance to the family and to their homes and if the children need remedial classes, it’s also open to the Lebanese as well. So this is the kind of work we’re doing.”
25. Wide shot, panoramic view of Syrian border town
In Northern Lebanon’s busy streets of Tripoli, UNHCR has begun distributing humanitarian supplies to Syrian refugees. They arrive here on a daily basis.
Some are recent arrivals; others like Lamia have been in Northern Lebanon since the start of the Syrian crisis over a year ago.
The refugees now number 22,000, most need help to survive. Some assistance comes from UNHCR, some from the Lebanese community.
Lamia, whose identity is being protected, dreams of home inspite of the relative calm Lebanon provides.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Lamia, Syrian refugee:
“One without his country cannot last. Life is good here, and its citizens are good and welcoming. But one’s country is always more beautiful.’’
For a year now, Mohammad Ramadan has opened his home to a refugee family.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Hoda, Syrian refugee:
“We’re getting by. We’re living here with them in their house. We’re receiving some supplies, and the family is also assisting us. We’re living. It’s always better than being under the bombs over there.”
Mohammad says that people want to help the refugees.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mohammed Ramadan, Lebanese national sheltering Syrian refugees:
“They’re like our children and our family. We eat together. Whatever happens we eat together. What are we to do? Do we leave them out on the streets? I have a son I wanted to marry; I had to put that on hold to have these families stay with us until the situation eases.”
The Lebanese government has also been providing some assistance.
Public schools such as this one in the border region have been offering free education for Syrian refugee children since they started arriving.
In the tenth grade classroom, Chhab, a 15 year old Syrian student listens to his Lebanese classmate solve a math problem.
Chhab didn’t speak French when he enrolled, so he had to seek help from his Lebanese classmates.
Now he is the top of his class.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Chhab, Syrian refugee:
“At first, my classmates started reading in front of me and teaching me. Between classes, they used to take the books, and have me read in front of them until I learned.’’
In the same village, UNHCR, in conjunction with Save the Children operates a vocational training centre for both Syrians and Lebanese.
Here, children of both nationalities are being given remedial classes.
UNHCR says that it is crucial that the Lebanese communities be given support, as well.
SOUNDBITE (English) Ninette Kelley, UNHCR’s representative in Lebanon:
“These kids are coming to an area that is socially and economically deprived, so many of the hardship they are facing are also faced by the host community who’s given them the welcome and the shelter. So what we’re trying to do is ensure that our efforts also benefit the most vulnerable Lebanese. So that would apply to things like food assistance to the family, when you have a family that’s sheltering a lot of Syrians, we give food assistance to the family and to their homes and if the children need remedial classes, it’s also open to the Lebanese as well. So this is the kind of work we’re doing.”
These refugees have found a welcoming place in Lebanon. Yet most say that they long for peace in their country and a chance to return to their homes and the lives. For most that seems far away.
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