Over half Syrian refugees in Lebanon in 'extreme poverty': UN

Beirut, Dec 15 (AFP) More than half of the Syrianrefugees in Lebanon are now living in extreme poverty, and thevast majority live below the poverty...

Beirut, Dec 15 (AFP) More than half of the Syrianrefugees in Lebanon are now living in extreme poverty, and thevast majority live below the poverty line, the UN's refugeeagency said today.

According to the UN, more than a million Syrians havesought refuge in Lebanon since the war in their countryerupted after anti-government protests in March 2011.

The massive influx has tested Lebanon, a country of justfour million citizens that already struggled withoverstretched resources before the arrival of Syrian refugees.

Over the last six years of the war, the refugeepopulation has sunk further into debt and poverty, UNHCR said,with 58 per cent of households now living in extreme poverty,defined as less than USD 2.87 per person a day.

That is an increase of five percent since last year,UNHCR said in an annual survey.

The survey found 76 per cent of refugees were livingbelow the poverty line, defined as less than USD 3.84 perperson a day, and that nearly 90 per cent of refugees were indebt.

"Syrian refugees in Lebanon are barely keeping afloat,"said UNHCR's Lebanon representative Mireille Girard said.

"Most families are extremely vulnerable and dependent onaid from the international community."One bright spot in the survey was a large jump in schoolenrolment of refugee children aged 6-14, with 70 percent nowregistered at school, up from around just half.

But the report found just 12 percent of adolescentrefugees had finished their education.

More than 340,000 people have been killed in Syria sincethe conflict began, and over five million people have fledabroad as refugees.

Large parts of the country are now under governmentcontrol after years of fighting, and there have beenincreasing calls in recent months in Lebanon for refugees tobegin returning home, though aid agencies have said it is tooearly for returns to begin. (AFP)MRJ.

This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.

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