Takoma Park, Maryland — Fighting in Syria has forced more than 1.6 million people to flee the country and bordering nations, including Jordan and Lebanon, each expect to host one million Syrian refugees by the end of 2013. Today, on this World Refugee Day, Handicap International is reiterating its serious concerns about the lack of resources available to adequately support these refugees. Handicap International calls on international funding bodies and the United Nations to provide the appropriate resources and coordination to meet both current and future needs.

"Imagine what this influx of a population, with all its needs, represents," says Thierry-Mehdi Benlahsen, Handicap International's Regional Emergency Response Coordinator. “Hospitals are at breaking point, there is a serious lack of accommodation, and the quite exceptional solidarity shown by the inhabitants of the host countries may well reach its limits if the international community does not provide an appropriate response to the situation.”

“In the best case scenario, the funding made available by the international community will cover the needs identified four months ago," says Benlahsen. "In the meantime, the situation has deteriorated and the NGOs do not have the resources they need to cope."

Worldwide, at the beginning of 2012, 15 million people had been forced to leave their home countries in the wake of a natural disaster or conflict. In recent statements, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has warned that this figure could reach a record high due to the crisis in Syria.

Handicap International has been working with Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon since the summer of 2012 and inside Syria itself since the beginning of 2013. The organization provides rehabilitation care to people with injuries and disabilities and raises awareness about the risks of unexploded ordnance.

“Every day our staff bears witness to the incredible suffering of displaced Syrians, many of whom have devastating injuries and post-traumatic stress,” says Elizabeth MacNairn, executive director of Handicap International’s US office. “We’re calling on the international community to commit the necessary resources to care for these extremely vulnerable people and to work to end the conflict in Syria once and for all.”

About Handicap International
Co-winner of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize, Handicap International is an independent international aid organization. It has been working in situations of poverty and exclusion, conflict and disaster for 30 years. Working alongside persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups, our actions and testimony focus on responding to their essential needs, improving their living conditions, and promoting respect for their dignity and basic rights. Since 1982, Handicap International has set up development programs in more than 60 countries and intervenes in numerous emergency situations. The network of eight national associations (Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States) works constantly to mobilize resources, jointly manage projects and to increase the impact of the organization's principles and actions. Handicap International is one of six founding organizations of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, and winner of the 2011 Hilton Humanitarian Prize. Handicap International takes action and campaigns in places where “standing tall” is no easy task.

Contacts
Mica Bevington, Director of Marketing and Communications
Handicap International US
+1 (240) 450-3531
[email protected]

Molly Feltner, Marketing and Communications Officer
Handicap International US
+1 (240) 450-3528
[email protected]

Humanity & Inclusion started working in Lebanon in 1992 focused on Palestinian refugee camps and clusters, providing rehabilitation and mental health services and promoting the rights of people with disabilities. The team has since provided emergency assistance in the crisis situations that have rocked the country and region. Since 2011, Humanity & Inclusion has been supporting Syrian refugees and the Lebanese community affected by the war in Syria.

Areas of Intervention

• Rehabilitation and mental health
• Weapons clearance
• Inclusive education 
• Social inclusion

Humanity & Inclusion's 82-person team works in Lebanon to increase community involvement of people with disabilities and individuals living in vulnerable circumstances. This work includes physical, professional, cultural and social inclusion. As a result of the humanitarian crisis caused by conflict in Syria, Humanity & Inclusion has also rolled out emergency projects serving refugees and host communities. 

In North Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley, Humanity & Inclusion ensures that people with disabilities receive appropriate emergency care such as rehabilitation, psychosocial support and assistive devices including artificial limbs and braces.

Humanity & Inclusion also carries out clearance operations in the north of the country to remove explosive remnants left behind after the Lebanese civil war. 

In partnership with local education and protection stakeholders, Humanity & Inclusion works to improve inclusion of students with disabilities and promote inclusive humanitarian response in Lebanon. 

Background

Lebanon has been deeply affected by an economic crisis that started in late 2019, and has worsened amid the Covid-19 pandemic. More than 50% of the population currently lives under the poverty line. 

Meanwhile, the country continues to welcome 1 million refugees who have fled the 10-year war in Syria. Lebanon is also home to a large community of Palestinian refugees, mainly living in informal camps. Refugees often require emergency assistance, primarily to treat their physical and psychological injuries, but have limited access to basic services like health care and education.

As a result of several decades of intermittent conflict and despite 15 years of clearance efforts, the population continues to be affected by mines and explosive remnants of war, with some victims requiring life-long assistance to live with their injuries. 

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Takoma Park, Maryland — On the second anniversary of the Syrian uprising, Handicap International condemns the inaction of the international community, which has failed in its duty to protect civilians or to give them equal access to humanitarian aid. Handicap International has been aiding victims of the Syrian conflict for ten months. After launching a relief effort for Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon, it extended activities inside Syria, where conditions are extremely harsh.

Two years after the first demonstrators hit the streets of Syria, the country is locked in a bloody civil war that has already claimed the lives of nearly 70,000 people and forced nearly 4 million others to take refuge abroad or inside Syria. This incredibly violent crisis, in which civilians have faced two years of continuous fighting, claims more and more victims. They continue to be killed by bullets or bombs, severely wounded or burned, and traumatized by the hell of their everyday lives.

Handicap International began supplying aid to Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon in May 2012, before extending its operations into Syria. More than 160 Handicap International staff work in these three countries to case-manage victims. By June 2013, almost 37,000 people will have benefited from the charity’s direct assistance, while 9,000 people have learned how to spot and avoid weapons and explosive remnants of war.

Few organizations operate in the north of Syria. Handicap International is the only one providing post-surgery emergency rehabilitation care to victims, many of whom are children. It is common for our teams to provide rehabilitation care and orthopedic devices to people who have lost both legs, or an arm and a leg.

Given the extreme suffering of the Syrian people, Handicap International has already admonished representatives of the international community for their failure to apply principles of civilian protection and for their lack of action.

“It is clear that diplomatic pressure on all parties to this conflict has failed to prevent civilians from being deliberately targeted, in total disregard for international humanitarian law, and sometimes with indescribable cruelty,” says Jean-Baptiste Richardier, executive director of Handicap International.

Despite advances in obtaining authorization from the Syrian authorities to access government-controlled areas, the north of Syria remains appallingly isolated. The significance and preservation of international humanitarian law are at stake as well as the capacity of the international community to combat its own despondency.

“This conflict has unfolded behind closed doors,” Richardier adds. “Humanitarian organizations, which are ready and willing to intervene, are not being given adequate resources to supply the humanitarian assistance required to meet the immense needs of the people. As a result of this wait-and-see policy, a growing number of Syrians have had to flee their country, with one million refugees already registered in neighboring countries. There will also be dramatic and long-term consequences for everyone left without adequate care, some of whom will develop disabilities as a result. Statements on the accessibility of northern Syria for aid passing through government-controlled areas should not, however, minimize the serious deficiency of emergency relief getting through to this region. Any other conclusion would be a lie, and the international community should not be satisfied with the little progress made so far.”

Elizabeth MacNairn, executive director of Handicap International’s US office, adds that "the victims of this bloody conflict will bear the physical and psychological scars for years to come. The international community must not only respond immediately with lifesaving assistance, but also in the medium- and long-term to help the Syrian people rebuild and reclaim their lives.”

About Handicap International
Co-winner of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize, Handicap International is an independent international aid organization. It has been working in situations of poverty and exclusion, conflict and disaster for 30 years. Working alongside persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups, our actions and testimony focus on responding to their essential needs, improving their living conditions, and promoting respect for their dignity and basic rights. Since 1982, Handicap International has set up development programs in more than 60 countries and intervenes in numerous emergency situations. The network of eight national associations (Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States) works constantly to mobilize resources, jointly manage projects and to increase the impact of the organization's principles and actions. Handicap International is one of six founding organizations of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, and winner of the 2011 Hilton Humanitarian Prize. Handicap International takes action and campaigns in places where “standing tall” is no easy task.

Contacts
Mica Bevington, Director of Communications and Marketing
Handicap International US
+1 (240) 450-3531
[email protected]

Molly Feltner, Communications and Marketing Officer
Handicap International US
+1 (240) 450-3528
[email protected]

On April 24, 2012, the Handicap International team in Lebanon restored two plots of cleared land to villagers from Toula.