UNHCR: Over 604,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon

The UN Higher Council for Refugees (UNHCR) said Saturday that the number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon receiving aid from the government, the UN and its NGO partners has reached the threshold of 604,000 after an increase of 17,000 last week alone. It said the number of registered refugees is more than 517,000 while more than 87,000 are still waiting for their registration process to complete. It added 181,000 Syrian refugees were registered in northern Lebanon, 175,000 in the eastern Bekaa region, 95,000 in Beirut and Mount Lebanon, and 65,000 in southern Lebanon. The agency said that more than 150,000 refugees received food coupons from the Refugees Danish Board, the International Handicapped Organization and Italian NGOs. It expected that the number of refugees to benefit from the Lebanese official educational system will be over 138,000 refugees aging between 4 and 14 years. Lebanon has frequently called on the UN Security Council and International donors to help it shoulder the burden of hosting the Syrian refugees, who are expected to cross the threshold of one million by the end of the year. UN Higher Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said in a report last month that refugees in Lebanon have surpassed 25 percent of its own population and are inflicting a huge burden on the state and people of Lebanon.