UNHCR to send emergency mobile team to Lebanon

GENEVA, July 18 (UNHCR) - UNHCR is despatching an emergency mobile team of up to 11 people to Lebanon to assess the situation of thousands of people displaced by the conflict. The team, scheduled to start leaving later this week, will first head to Damascus, then move on to Beirut to reinforce a small team of essential staff already on the ground.

According to the latest UN assessments some 500,000 people have been displaced within Lebanon since Israel launched attacks on the country in retaliation for the abduction on July 12 of two soldiers by Hezbollah militiamen.

UNHCR national staff have carried out a preliminary assessment in one valley in the Shuf mountains - where many people have fled to safety - and found that out of the 60,000 displaced, some 40,000 were living with relatives or friends. A further 20,000 were living in communal and public buildings.

With stockpiles of relief supplies such as tents, plastic sheeting and blankets in neighbouring Syria and Jordan, UNHCR is well placed to respond to any immediate shelter needs.

Any UNHCR effort will be closely coordinated with the Lebanese authorities as well as with international partners such as the International Committee of the Red Cross. Initially, UNHCR will look at providing assistance to approximately 10,000 displaced families - mainly among the groups that are now being accommodated in community shelters, public buildings and institutions.

The immediate, short-term UNHCR funding requirements will be part of the joint UN appeal to be launched in the coming days.

Reports from UNHCR staff monitoring the border between Syria and Lebanon say the thousands leaving the country are overwhelmingly Syrian nationals temporarily working in Lebanon. Some Lebanese with means are also leaving the country, but do not need assistance. However, some third-country nationals trying to leave without documents have been stranded. UNHCR has raised that issue with the Syrian immigration authorities.

UNHCR is also trying to monitor the situation of some 20,000 Iraqi and Sudanese refugees and asylum seekers within Lebanon. UNHCR has relocated 10 non-essential staff and family members outside Lebanon.