Add us as your preferred source on Google to see more of our content in Search.
Add to Preferred SourcesUNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) published the key findings of the 2020 Vulnerability Assessment of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon (VASyR).
The economic downturn, steep inflation, COVID-19, and finally the Beirut blast have pushed vulnerable communities in Lebanon – including Syrian refugees – to the brink, with thousands of families sinking further into poverty and vulnerability.
One of the most concerning indicators of the impact of the compounded crises Syrian refugees have been facing in Lebanon is the sharp increase in the proportion of households living under the extreme poverty line, reaching a staggering 89 percent in 2020, up from 55 percent only a year before. They now live on less than LBP 308,728 per person per month – this is less than half the minimum wage in Lebanon.
Mireille Girard, UNHCR Representative in Lebanon, said: “The consecutive crises have affected all communities in Lebanon – Lebanese, refugees, migrants, and others – and the most vulnerable are the hardest hit. The situation of Syrian refugees in Lebanon has been deteriorating for years, but the findings of this year’s survey are a dramatic indication of how difficult it has become for them to make it through another day.” She added: “The key findings are released at a time when Syrian refugees are facing their hardest winter yet in Lebanon, braving the weather elements with very little to stay warm and safe.”
Refugees are accumulating more debt than ever before
The findings of the survey have indicated that the average amount of debt accumulated by households has increased by 18 percent with an average debt of nearly LBP 1,840,000 per family. The main reason for incurring debt was buying food (93 percent), followed by rent and medicine at 48 percent and 34 percent respectively. Similar to the previous year, 9 out of 10 households continue to be in debt, indicating that Syrian refugee households continue to lack enough resources to cover their basic needs.
Half of the Syrian refugee population is now food insecure
Food prices have almost tripled in Lebanon since October 2019 increasing by about 174 percent. At the same time, income opportunities have drastically shrunk due to the sharp economic slowdown the country has seen over the past twelve months.
Half of the Syrian refugee families surveyed were found to be suffering from food insecurity, compared to 28 percent at the same time in 2019.
Households with inadequate diets have doubled compared to the previous year (25 percent in 2019 to 49 percent in 2020), while the number of those resorting to damaging food coping mechanisms such as reducing the number of meals per day or reducing food portions is also on the rise.
Female-headed households are slightly more food insecure than male-headed households, and a far higher proportion of female-headed households (68 percent) than male-headed households (13 percent) are using coping strategies categorized as “crisis level” or “emergency level”. Crisis coping strategies include marriage of children under the age of 18, selling productive assets, withdrawing children from school, and reducing expenditure on education and health. Emergency coping strategies include begging, accepting high-risk jobs or sending children to work.
“Refugees are the most vulnerable people in any society and they are no different in Lebanon where the entire population is suffering from multiple crises that are even affecting the country’s middle class,” says Abdallah Al Wardat, WFP Representative and Country Director in Lebanon. “Thanks to generous support from donors, WFP continues to provide assistance to more than 800,000 refugees every month.”
Limited access to remote learning, child labour on the rise
Due to COVID-19 pandemic, public schools in Lebanon were all closed starting March 2020, and remote learning was introduced across the country. Sixty-five percent of school-aged children (ages 6-17) enrolled in schools were reported to only have attended school in person, before the closure in March 2020. The remaining 35 percent had some access to remote/distance learning, of whom one third were not able to follow such lessons, mostly due to lack of or insufficient internet.
The percentage of children aged between 5 and 17 years old who are engaged in child labour almost doubled, up from 2.6 percent in 2019 to 4.4 percent in 2020. Boys are more involved in child labour (6.9 percent) than girls (1.6 percent)
“The situation of children is becoming more and more delicate following the unprecedented crises Lebanon faced this year,” said Yukie Mokuo, UNICEF Representative in Lebanon. “We need to ensure that the most vulnerable children and young people are kept healthy, safe, and learning. They should be kept away from negative coping mechanisms such as child labour.”
Tensions between host and refugee communities have decreased
Similar to previous years, competition for jobs was cited by a number of families (40 percent) as one of the main drivers for tensions between refugee and host communities, however, this is a stark decrease from 2019 (51 percent). Families citing competition for resources also decreased from 20 percent in 2019, to only 8 percent in 2020.