A Humanitarian Crisis in Lebanon: Urgent Appeal for Aid
The situation in southern Lebanon is dire. The civilian death toll from the conflict is in the hundreds, with thousands more injured. Residents from the south are fleeing en masse to the north in search of safety, fearing a countrywide conflict. The Polish Centre for International Aid, PCPM, which has been operating in Lebanon for over a decade and whose staff are on the ground, is urgently appealing for assistance.
PCPM staff are on the ground
– Unfortunately, among the victims are children and women Lebanese families are now fleeing from the south of the country, the Bekaa Valley and Beirut, towards safer parts of Lebanon, roughly the size of Poland’s Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. Many residents are stuck in their cars for hours without access to food or water. Schools nationwide are closed, and medical centers and hospitals are in chaos. – PCPM mission staff are safe
reports Rana Gabi, head of PCPM’s mission in the Akkar region, from Lebanon.
The Governor of Akkar Province is requesting assistance from current organizations and is dividing Akkar into areas of responsibility. PCPM has been assigned Jourd El Qaytaa, a region where PCPM is constructing irrigation canals in the mountains.
PCPM has been operating in northern Lebanon for many years
PCPM has had an office in Kubajat (Qoubaiyat) in northern Lebanon for many years, providing assistance to Syrian refugees and the poorest Lebanese people. It has been building and repairing infrastructure, providing food and winter aid, and providing medical and firefighting assistance. – Now, the PCPM Foundation is preparing the necessary aid for displaced residents – explains Rana Gabi. We want to buy food, water, mattresses and other essential items for people moving to collective accommodation centers in the north. Every day, hundreds of families seeking shelter and safety from the bombings arrive in the Akkar district in northern Lebanon, where PCPM operates,” she adds. For this purpose, the Polish Centre for International Aid has launched a special fundraising campaign. Funds for aid can be donated through here or the dedicated website pcpm.org.pl/liban.
On Wednesday, September 25 alone, over 5,000 refugees from the south arrived in the Akkar region. The following day, over 6,500 are expected, including 800 already in the PCPM area of responsibility. “PCPM has been providing assistance in northern Lebanon since 2012. For many years, we provided housing for Syrian refugees. In recent years, we have been helping the poorest Lebanese families affected by the enormous economic crisis that hit Lebanon in 2019. After 12 years of cooperation with local governments and communities in northern Lebanon, PCPM has become, one might say, part of the local community. Now there is a new crisis, caused by the war between Israel and Hezbollah, and we will do everything we can to provide assistance to refugees fleeing the bombs and to the communities hosting them in northern Lebanon – adds Dr. Wojtek Wilk, president of PCPM.
The conflict in Lebanon is putting more and more innocent people in a dramatic situation
The conflict in Lebanon is putting more and more innocent people in a dramatic situation, as it is affecting an increasing number of localities. According to official data, so far, over 40 localities have been bombed in the south, in the Bekaa Valley and on the outskirts of Beirut. Over 4,000 houses have been razed to the ground, and 12,000 have been damaged. According to estimates, over 200,000 residents have left their homes. The governor of Akkar is asking for help from the present organizations and thanks Akkar for the areas of responsibility. PCPM has assigned Jourd Al-Aitaa, this is the region where we operate and build irrigation canals in the mountains. Such localities as Mechmech (Miszmisz), Fnaideq.
Lebanon is also struggling with an economic crisis
Even before the escalation, Lebanon was in a tragic situation due to the economic crisis, which has been ongoing since 2019. In the meantime, the country has been struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequences of the explosion in the Beirut port. Almost half of the population lives below the poverty line, meaning they have no means of subsistence and depend on humanitarian aid. Syrian refugees are in the worst situation, with over 90% of them having no means of support. Unemployment is high, inflation is soaring, and public services have collapsed.
Poles from PCPM have been helping on the ground for twelve years. The Polish Centre for International Aid has been continuously helping in Lebanon since 2012. First in response to the refugee crisis related to the war in Syria. Then also to the Lebanese people affected by the economic crisis. Our support is focused on the north of the country in the Akkar province, but also operates in Beirut.
Despite the constantly deteriorating situation, we are on the ground – sums up Dr. Wojtek Wilk, president of the PCPM Foundation and an expert in solving humanitarian crises, who knows Lebanon and the situation of the Lebanese people very well.
We have urgently launched a fundraising campaign to increase the aid we are already providing on the ground. We have a set of dressings and medicines for 10,000 sick and injured people ready to be sent, which PCPM will use to support the health system in northern Lebanon, where refugees are arriving. The PCPM team north of Lebanon is also preparing food aid for refugees and is working closely with local authorities, looking for places to accommodate them – he adds. – We remember how generous and empathetic Poles can be. We know that we can count on you, you have shown it after the explosion in the Beirut port, but also after Russia’s attack on neighboring Ukraine or recently during the flood in southern Poland. You will join us in helping through pcpm.org.pl/liban, and we appeal to you – to encourage Dr. Wilk. In northern Lebanon, work is also continuing within the framework of a project financed by the Polish Aid program of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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