Lebanon: Turkish charity helps Syrian refugees

By Mahmut Geldi

BEIRUT (AA) - The Istanbul-based Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) distributed blankets and fuel to Syrian refugees living in sub-human conditions in Lebanon.

Emre Kaya, the Middle East Desk coordinator for IHH, said the Lebanese city of Arsal was home to nearly 60,000 Syrian refugees who are struggling to survive in make-shift tents in harsh winter conditions.

The IHH helped out more than 2,000 families with their humanitarian aid supplies.

Noting that temperatures could drop to minus 15C (5F), Kaya said the charity gave 20 liters of fuel for heating to 1,100 families and blankets to as many.

The official figures suggest that about 1.5 million Syrians fled their country and took refuge in Lebanon since 2011, when civil war broke in the country.

According to the UN-affiliated researches, every nine out of 10 Syrians in Lebanon suffer from extreme poverty.

*Writing by Ali Murat Alhas