Over 739,000 Syrian refugees find shelter in Lebanon

The United Nations' refugee agency said Sunday that the number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon has reached 739,000, up by 13,000 since last week. About 636,000 refugees have been registered in Lebanon while more than 103,000 are still waiting for their registration process to complete, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in its weekly report. It added that the registered refugees are benefiting from aid provided by the Lebanese government, the U.N. agencies and its non- governmental organizations. The report said that strict security measures are being applied in the Bekaa area by some of the towns' municipalities, anticipating that these measures could be enforced as well in other areas of Lebanon which host Syrian refugees. In June, Lebanese President Michel Suleiman called onthe international community to be aware of the burden of the high influx of Syrian refugees on Lebanon, explaining that his country is no more capable of handling the issue by itself.