OCHA Situation Report No. 4
Lebanon Response: Syria
21August 2006


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

SITUATION OVERVIEW
Displacement Update/ Returnees

1. The highway between Damascus and Beirut has been officially 
re-opened. UNHCR reported that traffic is at pre-conflict levels.

2. UNHCR has monitored 131,223 Lebanese who have crossed from Syria 
through the main border crossings. The Governor of Homs estimates that 
in addition to that 10,000 Lebanese refugees have crossed smaller border 
points, bringing the total estimate of returnees up to 140,000 as of 20 
August.

3. At this stage, it is still difficult to state how many Lebanese 
remain in Syria, especially since many of them are believed to be living 
with host families.

4. The demographics of Lebanese who have remained in Syria are still 
unknown; it is expected that this will become clearer over the next 
couple of days. Refugees International noted that people who did stay 
behind are generally staying with host families and will be difficult to 
reach - most probably the elderly and those with chronic health problems 
who need access to medicines and are unsure if they can get them in 
their home areas.

5. UNHCR reports that, although the Israeli raid in the Bekaa valley 
disturbed the Lebanese population, there has been no influx of Lebanese 
into Syria.

6. UNHCR noted at the Water and Sanitation meeting on 20 August that 
although some Lebanese may cross back into Syria upon finding that they 
have nowhere to stay in Lebanon, the chances of this happening on a 
large scale are mitigated because of assistance provided in return 
areas.

7. UNRWA reports that the UNRWA schools that were hosting recent 
Palestinian refugees from Lebanon in Damascus and Homs are now empty. 
All of the Palestinians that were staying in private homes are also 
believed to have returned to Lebanon, although this will be confirmed in 
the next couple of days.

Contingency Planning

8. The need for contingency planning has been noted across agencies, in 
case of the ceasefire failing.

9. In view of the fragile situation in Lebanon, UNHCR is pre-positioning 
contingency supplies of non-food items for 20,000 people, in case of a 
return influx of Lebanese into Syria.

HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE

Residual Caseload

10. As noted above, it is currently difficult to estimate the residual 
caseload of Lebanese in Syria. United Nations Agencies are working with 
a tentative estimate of 2,500, to be confirmed over the next few days.

11. A plan for refugees remaining in Syria was developed on 18 August 
with the MoE (Ministry of Education). The Islamic Relief organization 
also participated to the meeting.

12. UNICEF reported at the Water and Sanitation meeting on 20 August 
that there are 5 'Rural Development Centers' that may be used to house 
1,200 remaining POCs, in order to empty the schools in time for the new 
school year. These centers are fully equipped with bedrooms and 
bathrooms, and are located near all necessary amenities. UNICEF 
estimates preparation costs of $2,000 per center.

Facilitation of return

13. While most are crossing the border with their private cars, the 
Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) and UNHCR continue to organize buses on 
a daily basis particularly for those who cannot afford any 
transportation.

14. UNHCR has also been offering a shuttle service at Yabous border, 
through the no-man's-land from the Syrian checkpoint to the Lebanese 
side (Masnaa'), where Lebanese taxis are already waiting. The shuttle 
service is mainly used by groups of vulnerable refugees.

Health & Nutrition

15. As of 18 August, UNICEF and MoH teams reported that necessary drugs 
and staffing were available at the border points. There are also primary 
healthcare centers 1 to 2 km away from the borders and general hospitals 
15 to 20 minutes drive away. In the so called 'no-mans land' both IMC 
and SARC had mobile health teams supporting the returning refugees.

16. The findings mainly indicated that on the 3 borders, there were 2 
mobile clinics and 2 ambulances managed by SARC and MOH (or IMC in one 
case) where 8 health workers and 2 physicians were providing emergency 
health services with an average of 10-12 consultations daily. 4 health 
workers were working in the mobile clinics in addition to 6 volunteers.

Food

17. On 17 August, WFP began distribution of 10 day rations for 25,000 
POCs in Damascus. Rations included pulses, oil and canned food. The 
majority of the distribution could not take place, since the majority of 
POCs had returned to Lebanon.

18. WFP began bread distribution from 16-19 August.

19. At the borders, WFP has pre-positioned 8 metric tons of high energy 
biscuits, 12 metric tons of canned meat, and about 22 metric tons of 
bread. Due to the capacity of the bakeries, bread is only being 
distributed in Yabous (approximately 20 metric tones).

Water and Sanitation

20. UNICEF appointed engineers will assess two of MOSAL's camps based in 
Rural Damascus and prepare for maintenance if necessary. UNICEF will 
also be assisting with the maintenance of WES facilities at the 5 'Rural 
Development Centers'.

21. UNICEF will send a team to assess necessary maintenance for latrine 
facilities at Qaseer and possibly Arida based on observations made by 
the UNICEF assessment teams.

Protection

22. UNICEF reports that recreation kits for 25 Child Friendly Spaces 
were distributed on 18 August.

23. Child friendly spaces are being set up today at all borders by SARC 
and the supplies were delivered on 18 August by UNICEF.

Education

24. Local schools have asked for maintenance support before 10 
September, in time for the start of the school year. At the Water and 
Sanitation meeting on 20 August, UNICEF reported that the MoE (Ministry 
of Education) has sent assessors to schools and collective centers in 
order to assess the 'environmental impact' of refugees.

25. The MOE has requested support from UNICEF in order to prepare the 
schools. (UNICEF has also hired 2 engineers to carry out assessments).

INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

26. Sophie Garde Thomle has returned to the OCHA Regional Office for 
West Africa. She has been replaced by Mr. Simon Taylor, who can be 
contacted on taylor16@un.org, or 00963 955 57807.

FUNDING

27. As of 19 August, the UN Flash Appeal for the Lebanon crisis has now 
received contributions of US$ 88.8 million, while US$ 6.39 million has 
been pledged.

28. The top six donors are the United States (25.4 million US dollars), 
Kuwait (20 million USD), Norway (18.03 million USD), ECHO (17.04 million 
USD), the European Commission (13.81 million USD), and Saudi Arabia (12 
million USD). Significant uncommitted pledges of 300 million and 51 
million US dollars have also been made by Kuwait and Saudi Arabia 
respectively.

29. Full details can be found on the FTS on 
http://www.reliefweb.int/fts.

30. The deadline for cluster input into the revised Flash Appeal is 
Tuesday 22 August. The Syria component is likely to consist of the 
following main elements:

- Facilitation of the return process for as long as this continues;
- Assistance and protection for the possible residual caseload of
   Lebanese inside Syria;
- Recovery assistance (e.g. basic rehabilitation of sites where Lebanese
   were accommodated);
- Operational backstopping to the Lebanon operations;
- Contingency planning and emergency preparedness for possible future
   developments in relation to the Lebanon crisis;
- Efforts to further enhance central coordination and interface with the
   GoS.

PRIORITY CONCERNS

- Contingency planning
- Residual Caseload

This situation report, together with additional information on the 
current crisis is also available on http://www.reliefweb.int.

Information can be shared by humanitarian practitioners directly 
involved in the response to the crisis by utilizing the virtual 
Humanitarian Information Centre Website available at 
www.humanitarianinfo.org/lebanon. Organisations can post Who What Where 
Information and contact details, as well as any other pertinent 
information at the site by submitting to vhic@un.org

For further information, please contact:

OCHA Mission to Syria syriaocha@un.org
  Mr. Ivo Freijsen, Head of Mission +963 934 75636
  Ms. Simon Taylor, Information Management Officer +963 955 57807
  Ms. Nadia Evans, Reports Officer +963 985 81824


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