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LEBANON / ARSAL INFLUX FOOD AID
STORY: LEBANON / FOOD AID SYRIAN REFUGEES
TRT: 2:01
SOURCE: WFP
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ARABIC/ ENGLISH/ NATS
DATELINE: 20, 21 NOVEMBER 2013, ARSAL, LEBANON
20 NOVEMBER 2013, ARSAL, LEBANON
1. Various shots, Syrian refugees at unfinished Mosque waiting for distribution of food parcels , blankets and other items.
2. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Amina Al-Arawi, Refugee:
“My name is Amina Al-Arawi. We came from Al-Qusayr to Qarah. We rented a house and we were okay. Then the shelling became very heavy and we could no longer stay there, so we left. The route was very difficult. We had to sleep in the mountains. The children were crying a lot. We had no food and no water and we were very cold. It would have been easier if it were summer. My son was killed in the revolution. My husband was killed too. We are now here in Arsal, we live with our relatives until God willing we find a house and now we are here to receive assistance.”
3. Various shots, Syrian refugees at unfinished Mosque receiving distribution of food parcels , blankets and other items
21 NOVEMBER 2013, ARSAL, LEBANON
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Brett Hanley, World Food Programme, Lebanon:
“We have already assisted 4,000 individuals with food that will cover for one month and we will continue until assisitng until all those that require have received it.
20 NOVEMBER 2013, ARSAL, LEBANON
5. Various shots, Syrian trying to keep warm in Mosque, registering for relief items
21 NOVEMBER 2013
6. SOUNDBITE(English) Brett Hanley, World Food Programme, Lebanon:
“Winter has already arrived here in Arsal so its very cold and we expect over the next month that it will continue to get colder making the sitruation for thsoe who have recently arrived very difficult.”
20 NOVEMBER 2013, ARSAL, LEBANON
7. Various shots, Syrian refugees at unfinished Mosque receiving distribution of food parcels , blankets and other items
Humanitarian agencies are responding to an influx of more than 13,000 Syrian refugees who arrived to Arsal over the past week, following heavy fighting in the Qalamoun area of Damascus. Arsal was already hosting some 19,500 refugees and more are expected to arrive in the coming days.
With this influx the total population of Arsal has almost doubled. World Food Programme (WFP) has to date assisted over 7,000 people with food parcels for one month.
Most of these newly arriving refugees come from the Qarah village where heavy clashes took place but were originally displaced from Homs. They are scattered in Arsal around 14 different temporary sites, consisting of four collective shelters and 10 improvised tented settlements.
The majority of them are women and children who fled under the cover of the cold night. Clashes have spread to the Nabak and Yabroud over the past hours driving more people to Arsal.
Some 200,000 people live in the area of Qalamoun and it is expected that a further escalation of the conflict in this area could lead to a significant displacement to the Bekaa where winter is very harsh.
In preparation for such a potentially larger influx, WFP is ramping up its contingency stock and has already mobilised 3,400 food parcels in warehouses in the Bekaa for around 17,000 people for one month, ready for dispatch. WFP has a contingency stock of food parcels, enough for around 120,000 people in the country.
WFP in Lebanon is assisting around 600,000 Syrian refugees meet their food needs through an innovative electronic voucher system and food parcels.
END
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