By Dalal Yassine
Desperate and struggling to meet basic needs.
That was the verdict from Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations Works and Relief Agency UNRWA, in December.
Lazzarini painted a stark picture of the situation for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon for whom, just this week, UNRWA launched a special appeal.
“I met young graduates whose only hope for a better future is to emigrate. They know the price of each migration route,” Lazzarini said. “I met parents who have nightmares about how they will afford to buy milk and diapers for their children the next day.”
Lebanon is grappling with a financial and political crisis that is afflicting everyone but is having a particularly devastating impact on the some 480,000 Palestinian refugees in the country, already among the poorest and most marginalized members of Lebanese society.
This article originally appeared in The Electronic Intifada.
Dalal Yassine is a Non-Resident Fellow at The Jerusalem Fund and Palestine Center. The views in this brief are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Jerusalem Fund.
